For a global healthcare technology company specializing in infant nutrition management and clinical safety. A pioneer in this specialized segment, the client helps healthcare providers improve traceability and reduce feeding errors through end-to-end nutrition management workflows.
The existing application had supported hospital workflows for more than a decade. It helped healthcare providers track and administer expressed breast milk, donor human milk, infant formula and nutritional supplements while improving traceability and reducing feeding errors.
But the platform had been built primarily for customers in the United States. Its legacy architecture had become slow, difficult to scale and limited in functionality. The application supported only 20 to 30 screens, relied heavily on manual processes and offered limited reporting and dashboard capabilities.
Its single-tenant model also experienced performance issues as user volumes increased. Data frequently had to be uploaded through CSV files, making complete real-time workflows difficult.
As the client prepared to expand into Europe, it needed to support European data privacy requirements, higher user volumes and more comprehensive hospital workflows. Without modernization, it risked limiting adoption among European hospitals and delaying growth in a strategically important market.
The European Commission’s 2025 eHealth Indicator Study found that the EU-27’s composite eHealth maturity score had reached 83%, up four percentage points from 2023 as healthcare connectivity and access to health data continued to expand.
The application had served its original market. European expansion demanded a different foundation.
Designing a Platform Built for Growth
Persistent began with an in-depth assessment of the existing application, business requirements and market expansion plans. It then designed and developed a cloud-based, multi-tenant SaaS platform capable of supporting multiple hospitals, more users and evolving clinical workflows.
The architecture was designed to accommodate new functionality, customer requirements and geographic expansion without extensive redevelopment. It also established a stronger foundation for future product enhancements.
The modernization included:
- Multi-user, multi-tenant SaaS architecture supporting 200 to 250 concurrent users and multiple hospital customers through a common platform
- An approximately 260-screen user experience designed to improve visibility, navigation, data entry and task completion
- Expanded infant nutrition workflows covering expressed breast milk, donor human milk, formula management, feed preparation and administration, clinical workflow tracking, dashboards, reports and end-to-end analysis
- Real data across 17 modules, replacing dummy data and CSV-dependent processes
- AWS implementation and DevOps automation using AWS Cloud Development Kit, creating a consistent and scalable foundation for development, testing and deployment while making the application easier to maintain and enhance.
Deloitte’s 2025 global healthcare outlook found that about 70% of surveyed health-system executives considered investment in technology platforms for digital tools and services important, while around 90% expected digital technology use to accelerate during the year. The research also identifies cloud, automation, privacy and security as important considerations in modernizing healthcare technology.
The modernization therefore addressed more than performance. It created room for the application, workflows and customer base to grow together.
Accelerating Development with AI-Assisted Engineering
Persistent integrated GitHub Copilot into the development process to accelerate engineering activities and improve developer productivity. Persistent completed the application in six months, compared with the 18 months estimated through the client’s earlier development approach.
The redesigned interface gave users greater visibility across infant nutrition workflows and made it easier to navigate the application, enter information and complete tasks. It was well received by the client and established a design foundation for future applications.
The shorter development cycle supported the client’s preparations for European expansion. The new platform then changed what users could accomplish once it was in place.
Business Impact
From Legacy Constraints to Scalable Clinical Operations
- 66% reduction in development cycle time, with the application completed in six months versus the previous 18-month estimate
- 52% improvement in application performance
- 35–40% reduction in operational costs through digitized workflows and reduced manual intervention
- End-to-end workflows reduced from 90 minutes to 10–15 minutes
- Reports generated in approximately two minutes, supporting faster operational decisions and more effective customer discussions.
- Scalability increased to 200–250 concurrent users
- Approximately 10 of 15–17 hospitals indicated interest after demonstrations of the modernized platform
The results strengthened the client’s proposition for prospective hospital customers and gave users faster access to reports, dashboards and operational insights.
Building a Foundation for European Expansion
The modernized platform gave the client a scalable foundation for entering new markets with stronger performance and more comprehensive hospital workflows.
Persistent combined healthcare domain expertise, experience design, cloud engineering and AI-assisted development to transform a constrained legacy application into a comprehensive infant nutrition management platform.
The engagement also helped the client demonstrate its solution more effectively, generate decision-ready insights and provide hospitals with greater traceability across infant nutrition workflows.
The result is a platform designed not only for the client’s current operating needs but for the scale, functionality and geographic growth ahead.
Assess Your Application Modernization Needs. Build a Scalable Healthcare Platform. Talk with Persistent.
