Dennis Ward
Business, US Sales, AST
Dennis runs AST's business in the US. He spent two decades as a solutions architect and sales engineer selling complex systems into Fortune 500 enterprises — scoping the architecture, building the proof of concept, and making the business case alongside it. He holds AWS solution architecture credentials and a BS in Electrical Engineering from MIT.
9 minHow US Health Systems Actually Buy Software
Most health system software deals do not stall on the technology. They stall in security review, in a committee calendar, or on a budget line nobody owns. Here is what the process looks like from the other side of the table.
11 minAutomated Referral Management That Actually Moves
How I build automated referral management workflows that reduce manual chasing, surface missing data early, and keep referrals moving across EMR and payer systems.
9 minArchitecting a Clinical Workflow Engine for Value-Based Care
A practical guide to designing a clinical workflow engine for value-based care, with routing, rules, auditability, and the failure modes that matter.
11 minCare Coordination Platforms for Multi-Site Health Systems
What enterprise health systems need from a care coordination platform: workflow design, interoperability, governance, and rollout lessons from real builds.
8 minHow to Reduce Clinician Click Fatigue in Real Workflows
Reduce clinician click fatigue by redesigning workflows, removing duplicate steps, and pushing the right data into the right screen at the right time.
10 minBuilding Intake-to-Discharge Workflow Automation
How I design intake-to-discharge workflow automation that survives real clinical chaos, handoffs, exceptions, and discharge bottlenecks.
10 minRedesigning Clinical Workflows Around Team Collaboration
Build care coordination into the workflow itself. I break down how to redesign clinical processes around collaboration, handoffs, and accountability.
9 minBuilding Configurable Order Sets Without Breaking Care
How I build configurable order sets and clinical templates in an EMR without turning care into a brittle rules jungle. Practical patterns and failure modes.
10 minHow to Migrate From a Legacy EMR to Cloud-Native
A practical playbook for moving from a legacy EMR to a cloud-native platform without breaking clinical workflows, integrations, or uptime.
9 minCustom EMR Development for Behavioral Health Practices
Custom EMR development for behavioral health practices: the workflows, integrations, privacy constraints, and build decisions that make adoption stick.
10 minHow to Build an EMR-Agnostic Documentation Layer
Learn how to build an EMR-agnostic clinical documentation layer that sits above Epic, Oracle Health, athenahealth, and more without breaking workflows.
11 minCerner/Oracle Health Integration for Custom Workflows
How we build custom Cerner/Oracle Health workflows with safer integrations, fewer brittle workarounds, and cleaner handoffs during Oracle transition.
9 minModernize a Legacy EMR Without Breaking Care
Modernize a legacy EMR without disrupting care: protect workflows, phase the cutover, preserve interfaces, and avoid the downtime traps we keep seeing.
8 minChoosing the Best Epic App Orchard Partner
How I evaluate Epic App Orchard development partners for third-party integrations, from workflow fit and HL7/FHIR depth to production support.
10 minHow I Build Specialty EMR Modules That Actually Stick
Build specialty EMR modules that fit real clinic workflows: scope, data model, edge cases, integration, testing, and rollout without breaking care.
4 minConsolidation Is Making Epic the Standard—and Outsourcing the Work
Hospital consolidation is pushing Epic standardization and creating heavy demand for integration, migration, and outsourced engineering support.
6 minMatrixCare vs PointClickCare for Skilled Nursing Operators in 2026
Compare MatrixCare and PointClickCare for SNF migrations in 2026: API depth, AI roadmap, billing integration, and PDPM documentation realities.
7 minHow to Choose an EHR Partner for Behavioral Health
Evaluate an EHR implementation partner for behavioral health and SUD platforms with the right architecture, compliance, and delivery model.
7 minEpic SmartText and Clinical Decision Support Evaluation
See how Epic SmartText, BPA, and Cosmos are changing EHR vendor evaluation and what health systems should demand from vendors.
6 minOracle Health Millennium FHIR Gaps in 2026
See Oracle Health Millennium FHIR R4 API gaps in 2026, write-back limits, code set quirks, and the workarounds digital health vendors need.
8 minReplacing Mirth Connect with Cloud-Native Integration
Why hospital systems are replacing legacy interface engines with cloud-native integration platforms as Mirth Connect and Rhapsody reach end of life.
6 minEvaluating Healthcare Vendors Beyond Certifications
Learn how to evaluate healthcare vendors beyond certifications and case studies with technical, architectural, and delivery-level due diligence.
5 minBuilding Ambient Clinical Documentation Systems
How to architect, scale, and secure ambient clinical documentation systems in healthcare with real-world engineering patterns that ship.
5 minWhy Clinical Workflows Break After EMR Integration
Learn why clinical workflows break after EMR integration and how to fix workflow architecture before productivity and patient safety suffer.
5 minBuild vs Partner: Healthcare Startup Framework
A practical build vs partner decision framework for healthcare software startups—cost, speed, compliance, and engineering tradeoffs explained.
5 minHow to Audit Your Health Tech Stack Before Series B
Learn how to audit your healthcare tech stack before Series B. Architecture, security, DevOps, and scaling risks founders must address early.
6 minWhat CTOs Underestimate When Integrating with Epic
CTO guide to integrating with Epic: hidden complexity, timelines, APIs, security, and architecture decisions that derail enterprise deployments.
6 minThe Hidden Costs of Building Your EMR Integration Layer
Before building your own EMR integration layer, understand the real technical and financial costs across FHIR, HL7, compliance, and maintenance.
5 minAmbient Clinical Documentation Architecture Guide
How to design ambient clinical documentation systems that scale securely, accurately, and compliantly across healthcare organizations.
5 minAmbient Clinical Documentation System Architecture
How to architect ambient clinical documentation systems that ship securely, scale reliably, and meet healthcare compliance requirements.
6 minFDA and ONC Compliance Testing Strategy
Healthcare software testing strategy for FDA and ONC compliance. Practical guidance on validation, documentation, and audit readiness.
5 minAggregate Clinical Data Across Multiple EMRs
How to aggregate clinical data across multiple EMR systems with scalable architecture, data models, and governance best practices.
6 minPopulation Health Analytics for ACO Dashboards
How to architect population health analytics dashboards for ACOs under value-based care, with scalable data models and quality reporting design.
5 minBuild HIPAA-Compliant Video Telehealth
Learn how to build HIPAA-compliant video consultation into your platform with secure architecture, WebRTC, and healthcare-grade controls.
5 minTelehealth Platform Architecture for Multi-State Networks
Designing telehealth platform architecture for multi-state provider networks requires smart interoperability, compliance, and scalable infrastructure.
5 minCustom vs Commercial EHR for Specialty Clinics
Custom EHR vs commercial EHR for specialty clinics. Compare cost, control, scalability, and engineering tradeoffs before you build or buy.
5 minBuilding a Respiratory Care Management Platform
Learn how to build a respiratory care management platform, from clinical workflows to HIPAA-compliant architecture and scalable EMR engineering.
6 minBuilding Software for Skilled Nursing Facilities
How to build and scale software inside skilled nursing facilities, with PointClickCare integration and HIPAA-compliant infrastructure.
6 minHow to Integrate Remote Patient Monitoring into EHR
Learn how to integrate remote patient monitoring into existing EHR workflows without breaking clinical operations or compliance.
5 minHow to Build a Patient Portal Clinicians Use
Learn how to build a patient portal clinicians actually use by aligning UX with clinical workflows, architecture, and measurable ROI.
6 minWhy Healthcare Software Projects Fail
Why healthcare software projects fail and how to prevent it with the right architecture, governance, and engineering model.
6 minStaff Augmentation vs Dedicated Team for Healthcare
A direct comparison of staff augmentation vs dedicated teams for healthcare software, with architecture, compliance, and delivery impact explained.
6 minHow to Build a Healthcare Engineering Team
Learn how to build a healthcare engineering team from scratch, including roles, compliance, architecture, and delivery models for digital health startups.
6 minHealthcare Data Lake Architecture for Analytics
Healthcare data lake architecture explained for analytics and reporting. Compare cloud approaches, security models, and build strategies.
5 minZero-Downtime Healthcare Cloud Migration Guide
How to migrate legacy healthcare systems to the cloud without downtime. Proven architectures, risks, and a pragmatic CTO decision framework.
5 minHIPAA-Compliant Cloud Architecture on AWS
Blueprint for HIPAA-compliant cloud architecture on AWS for health tech startups. Secure, scalable, audit-ready from day one.
6 minReal-Time Eligibility Verification for Clinics
How to architect a real-time eligibility verification engine for clinics that reduces denials, speeds check-in, and strengthens revenue cycle performance.
5 minEMR Modernization Partner for Legacy HL7v2 Systems
How to select the right EMR modernization partner for legacy HL7v2 systems, with architectural approaches, cost tradeoffs, and technical decision framework.
5 minPointClickCare Integration Partner Guide
How to choose the right PointClickCare integration partner for post-acute platforms. Architecture options, security, timelines, and decision framework.
5 minCerner vs Oracle Health Interoperability Strategy
Cerner vs Oracle Health interoperability strategy in 2026. Deep dive into FHIR, HL7v2, ONC compliance, and architecture decisions for EMR engineering teams.
5 minEpic Integration Partner vs In-House Build Guide
Choosing between an Epic integration partner and in-house build? Compare FHIR R4, HL7v2, ONC compliance, cost, and risk in this technical guide.
5 minHow to Choose an Epic & Cerner EMR Partner
How to choose an EMR development partner that integrates with Epic and Cerner. Technical, compliance, and architecture guidance for health tech leaders.