Cloud infrastructure pays back in 6 months and returns hours to clinicians by reducing latency and loading times.
Healthcare executives face an operational dilemma. Legacy on-premises data centers are becoming increasingly complex, capital-intensive, and difficult to sustain alongside expanding care delivery networks. To maintain a competitive edge, health system leaders must balance infrastructure modernization with high clinical performance, strong cyber security, and financial sustainability.
Migrating electronic health record (EHR) environments like Epic to Amazon Web Services (AWS) offers a path forward. By shifting from fixed capital investments to a flexible, cloud-first operating model, healthcare organizations can modernize their digital foundation while optimizing long-term operating costs.
Measurable financial return and clinical efficiency
To quantify the true economic impact of cloud migration, AWS commissioned Forrester Consulting to conduct a Total Economic Impact
(TEI) study. Forrester interviewed healthcare decision makers who migrated their Epic workloads to AWS and modeled the financial results for a composite health system.
The results revealed a 185% return on investment (ROI) over three years, with full payback of migration and system integration costs realized in less than six months from operational savings.
Beyond overall infrastructure savings, some of the most compelling value emerged directly at the point of care. The clinician experience visibly improved, as clinicians saw lower latency and faster screen loading times compared to legacy on-premises environments. This reduced friction and frustration at every moment. This improved system responsiveness reclaimed critical minutes throughout the workday, driving $4.5 million in savings from clinician efficiencies over three years. It also gave care providers more focused time with patients.
Transforming IT agility and operational resiliency
Cloud migration also fundamentally transforms how healthcare IT teams manage, scale, and protect core clinical systems. Instead of dedicating extensive staff hours to hardware refreshes, capacity forecasting, and manual updates, IT departments use automated cloud infrastructure to streamline daily maintenance and upskill staff for strategic initiatives. Modernizing infrastructure now positions health systems to rapidly iterate.
As the chief information and digital officer at a regional health system shared during the Forrester study:
“We’ve done upgrades where it took 35 people and 6 hours, and now with AWS it takes four or five people and about 20 minutes.”
These operational efficiencies ripple across the entire enterprise. They lower downtime risks, accelerate application rationalization, and build a foundation to accelerate future innovations with advanced analytics and generative AI.
Discover the full Forrester TEI study
Curious about the full financial breakdown, cost avoidance calculations, and step-by-step roadmap for migrating Epic to AWS? Read the complete study to learn how health systems are reshaping EHR operations and maximizing cloud value.
Download the full Forrester Total Economic Impact Study on Epic on AWS or learn more about Epic on AWS.
“The Total Economic Impact Of Epic On AWS,” a commissioned study conducted by Forrester Consulting on behalf of AWS, October 2026.
Epic is a trademark of Epic Systems Corporation.
