Go-Live Planning & Cutover

February 2026 · 20 min

What Is Go-Live?

Go-Live is the moment a hospital switches from its old system (paper, legacy HIS, or spreadsheets) to Bio Ecko for real patient care. Everything before go-live is rehearsal; everything after is production.

A successful go-live is invisible to patients -- they walk in, get treated, get billed, and leave without knowing the backend system changed overnight.

Go-Live Strategy Options

Big-Bang Go-Live

• All 61 Bio Ecko modules switch on a single date
• Pros -- one clean switchover, no dual data-entry, lower total project duration
• Cons -- high risk, requires exhaustive rehearsal, needs large floor-support team
• Best for -- small/medium hospitals with fewer than 200 beds

Phased Go-Live

• Modules go live in planned waves over 2-4 months
• Typical wave sequence for Bio Ecko:

• Pros -- lower risk per wave, staff absorb change gradually
• Cons -- longer total timeline, inter-module data sync during transition
• Best for -- large hospitals with 200+ beds or multi-branch chains

Pre Go-Live Checklist

Run this checklist at the Go/No-Go gate. Every item must be Green to proceed:

• All master data loaded and verified -- doctors, departments, services, tariffs, drug catalogue, test catalogue
• Historical patient data migrated and spot-checked (MRN continuity confirmed)
• User accounts created for every staff member, passwords distributed
• Role-based permissions tested per role matrix
• At least 2 rounds of UAT completed with sign-off from department heads
• Hardware ready -- workstations, printers (OPD slips, labels, reports), barcode scanners, wristband printers
• Network tested -- all floors reachable, Wi-Fi coverage in wards, backup link active
• Integration endpoints live -- ABDM sandbox promoted to production, payment gateway live, SMS/email gateway configured
• Backup & recovery tested -- Supabase point-in-time recovery verified within last 24 h
• Training completion rate above 90% for all roles
• Cutover SOP printed and distributed to war-room team
• Rollback plan documented and rehearsed
• Final Go/No-Go sign-off from hospital director & project sponsor

D-Day Cutover SOP

T-24 h (Day Before)

1. Freeze the old system -- no new registrations after 10 PM
2. Run final data migration delta (appointments for next 30 days, pending lab orders, pending bills)
3. Verify Supabase row counts match source
4. Print emergency manual forms (registration, billing, prescription) as fallback

T-0 h (Midnight Switch)

1. DNS/URL switch -- Bio Ecko production URL activated
2. Old system set to read-only mode (not deleted -- kept for 90 days)
3. Smoke-test: create 1 test patient, book appointment, complete OPD visit, generate bill, dispense pharmacy, collect lab sample, generate report
4. War-room lead sends Green signal to floor coordinators via WhatsApp group

T+1 h (Early Morning)

1. Front desk starts real registrations on Bio Ecko
2. Floor support stationed at every department (minimum 1 FC per department)
3. Escalation hotline active -- issues triaged as P1 (blocker), P2 (workaround exists), P3 (cosmetic)

T+8 h (End of Day 1)

1. Collect issue log from all departments
2. Daily standup with development team to triage P1/P2 items
3. Nightly patch deployment window: 11 PM - 1 AM

Hypercare Period

Hypercare runs for 2-6 weeks post go-live. The FC is the primary point of contact for the hospital during this period.

Hypercare Metrics to Track:

• Average ticket resolution time (target: P1 < 2 h, P2 < 8 h, P3 < 48 h)
• Daily active users vs total licensed users (target: > 85% by week 2)
• System uptime (target: 99.5%+)
• Number of manual workarounds still in use (target: zero by week 4)
• End-user satisfaction score (NPS survey at week 4)

Rollback Plan

Every go-live must have a documented rollback plan. The rollback decision must be made within the first 4 hours of go-live if critical blockers cannot be resolved.

Rollback Triggers (any one is sufficient):

• Patient safety risk -- medication orders not flowing correctly to pharmacy
• Complete billing failure -- cannot generate invoices for more than 30 minutes
• Data integrity issue -- patient records corrupted or missing
• Network/infrastructure failure lasting more than 1 hour

Rollback Steps:

1. Announce rollback to all departments via war-room WhatsApp group
2. Switch old system from read-only to active mode
3. Export all transactions entered in Bio Ecko during the live period
4. Front desk reverts to old system for new registrations
5. Park Bio Ecko in maintenance mode -- do NOT delete any data
6. Schedule post-mortem within 48 h to identify root cause
7. Fix issues, re-test, and schedule new go-live date (typically 1-2 weeks later)

Post Go-Live Optimisation

After hypercare ends, the FC transitions from firefighting to optimisation:

1. Usage Analytics Review -- pull Bio Ecko BI dashboards to identify underused modules. If pharmacy module adoption is below 80%, schedule targeted retraining.
2. Workflow Refinement -- gather feedback from department heads on bottlenecks. Adjust configurations (e.g., add quick-pick drug lists for high-volume OPDs, tweak auto-discharge rules for day-care IPD).
3. Report Customisation -- build hospital-specific MIS reports (daily revenue summary, department-wise patient load, average TAT by department).
4. Phase 2 Planning -- if go-live was phased, plan the next wave. If big-bang, plan advanced features (ABDM Health Locker, AI-assisted coding, predictive analytics).
5. Knowledge Transfer -- conduct a formal KT session with the hospital's internal IT team, handing over configuration documents, SOPs, and escalation procedures.

Common Go-Live Pitfalls

Notes

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