Post Go-Live Support: The Hidden Value of Run and Maintain Teams in Epic and Workday Environments

In healthcare IT, an Epic or Workday go-live is often treated like the finish line. Teams celebrate, leadership breathes a sigh of relief, and implementation partners begin rolling off.

But for organizations running mission-critical platforms like Epic and Workday, go-live isn’t the end of the journey-it’s the starting line of optimization.

Because once the system is live, reality sets in fast: user adoption challenges emerge, workflows break down under real-world volume, reporting gaps become visible, and upgrade cycles begin almost immediately. And without the right post go-live support structure in place, even the most successful implementation can become an expensive, underutilized system.

That’s where Run and Maintain (R&M) teams come in.

The Go-Live Illusion: Why Many Epic and Workday Implementations Stall After Launch

For many organizations, go-live marks the end of focus and funding. Once the system is live, consultants roll off, and internal staff return to daily operations. Yet this is precisely when complexity peaks.

This is the stage many leaders underestimate: the post go-live optimization phase—when the system is technically “live,” but far from fully optimized.

This is the period when:

• end users identify workflow pain points
• support tickets spike
• new compliance or regulatory requirements surface
• integrations need refinement
• reporting demands expand
• Epic or Workday updates introduce new change management needs

Without a structured sustainment model, performance stagnates. What was once a state-of-the-art platform can quickly become underutilized, inefficient, and expensive.

Many healthcare organizations discover that a significant share of optimization opportunities go unrealized in the first 12–24 months after go-live, not because the technology failed, but because post-implementation support structures were insufficient.

The Solution: Run and Maintain as a Core Capability

Run and Maintain (R&M) teams represent a strategic, ongoing investment in the health of your technology ecosystem. They aren’t just ticket solvers—they are system stewards who manage upgrades, maintain data integrity, and ensure continuous alignment between IT functionality and business goals.

Core R&M Functions Include:

• Application Sustainment: Continuous monitoring and issue resolution
• Optimization: Ongoing workflow refinement to reduce “pajama time” for clinicians
• Data Integrity: Ensuring interoperability across the continuum of care
• Release Management: Managing the rigorous cadence of Epic/Workday updates
• User Empowerment: Closing the knowledge gap through active adoption support

Outcomes That Are Defensible and Board-Ready

Rather than relying on percentage claims that vary widely by organization, outcomes should be framed in measurable, evidence-backed domains. The outcomes below map to peer-reviewed research and authoritative guidance and can be operationalized through KPIs and governance artifacts:

• Improved usability and user experience through continuous optimization: National survey data show meaningful variation in EHR satisfaction and an inverse association between satisfaction and burnout—supporting the business case for ongoing usability-focused improvement.
• Stronger quality and safety performance associated with higher digital maturity: Empirical work demonstrates that greater digital maturity contributes to strengthened quality and safety outcomes.
• Reduced operational risk through structured EHR safety and resilience practices: The SAFER Guides provide recommended practices for proactive self-assessment and system management that are inherently sustainment activities.
• More reliable governance and incident learning: Updated SAFER guidance describes organizational resilience practices; embedding these into R&M; governance supports continual improvement cycles.
• Clearer path to analytics and AI readiness through data governance maturity: HIMSS maturity models provide frameworks for assessing and improving analytics capabilities and governance, which depend on steady-state operational discipline.

Business Impact: What Sustained Excellence Looks Like
When healthcare organizations invest in mature Run and Maintain (R&M) teams, the results extend far beyond IT. Strong sustainment capabilities directly influence uptime, user adoption, operational efficiency, and long-term team stability.

Use this maturity framework to benchmark your Epic/Workday sustainment operating model. Each level is observable through governance artifacts and operational signals.

Practical note: SAFER Guides provide concrete checklists and worksheets that map especially well to Level 2–3 activities (system management, contingency planning, and organizational responsibilities).

Governance: The Architecture of Sustainment

To realize these outcomes, R&M must operate under a structured governance framework aligned with organizational goals. Without clear governance, even well-staffed sustainment teams can become reactive rather than strategic.

Best practices include:

• Co-Managed Partnerships: Blending internal institutional knowledge with external technical scale to ensure stability and flexibility.
• KPI-Driven Dashboards: Shifting measurement from “number of tickets closed” to metrics like system uptime, adoption, and user proficiency.
• Regular Triage: Aligning IT priorities with clinical and operational leadership through consistent monthly reviews and planning.

The Long-Term View: Run Teams as Innovation Enablers

R&M teams do not just preserve performance – they enable progress. A healthy sustainment function becomes the foundation for broader transformation initiatives, including digital front door expansion, AI and analytics enablement, and workforce optimization.

Industry research consistently highlights that accelerating financial performance through automation and AI is no longer optional. Organizations that delay investment in these capabilities risk falling behind the operational efficiency curve within just a few years of implementation. Sustainment is the launchpad that makes this evolution possible.

How Medix Technology Supports Epic and Workday Run and Maintain Teams

Sustaining Epic and Workday performance requires specialized talent, consistent coverage, and the ability to scale quickly as priorities shift. However, many healthcare organizations struggle to maintain the right staffing model with post go-live support, especially as optimization demands grow and upgrade cycles accelerate.

Medix Technology helps healthcare organizations strengthen Run and Maintain (R&M) functions through flexible delivery models that complement internal teams. Through MedixFlex™, organizations gain access to experienced healthcare technology professionals who can provide ongoing application support, optimization assistance, and upgrade readiness support based on evolving operational needs.

Rather than relying on traditional consultant-heavy models, MedixFlex is designed to provide consistent, integrated support that improves system stability, supports user adoption, and helps healthcare IT teams stay focused on long-term transformation initiatives.

Sustainment Is the Real Success Metric

Go-live may be the most visible milestone, but long-term performance is the true measure of success. Epic and Workday platforms only deliver their full value when organizations invest in the people and processes required to sustain them. With the right Run and Maintain structure in place, healthcare organizations can reduce disruption, strengthen adoption, and create a foundation for continuous optimization and innovation.

If your organization is evaluating how to stabilize post go-live support, prepare for upcoming upgrades, or strengthen long-term sustainment capacity, Medix Technology can help. Connect with an expert to get started.

Key Takeaways

• Go-live is not success—stability is.
• Run and Maintain teams convert reactivity into readiness.
• Sustainment maturity directly impacts innovation, adoption, and retention.

“The systems that define healthcare’s future will not be those implemented fastest—but those sustained best.”