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Medicat Implementation:

Your Roadmap from Contract to Go-Live

Switching to a new EHR is a big decision. Medicat’s job is to make this experience structured and predictable, with a dedicated specialist beside you during each step of the process. Implementation can be as short as one month, but typically takes about 8-12 weeks, depending on the complexity of your workflow.

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Medicat Implementation

The Implementation Process (Step-by-Step)

Switching EHRs is an opportunity to improve how your team operates, not just replicate your old system. Our team will partner with you to build better workflows, train your staff, and offer ongoing support to ensure your clinic’s success.
District Administrators, Officers & Clerks

Kick-off Call with Key Stakeholders

Phase 1
  • You’re paired with a dedicated Onboarding Specialist who you’ll meet with shortly after signing your Medicat contract
Effortless Practice Management

Discovery and Initial Setup

Phase 2
  • Database configuration, custom-branded Patient Portal, demographic feed, single sign-on setup, first-user credentials granted
Efficient Supervision

Weekly Working Sessions & Training

Phase 3
  • Recurring one-hour calls to configure, test, and track toward a target go-live date, plus role-based trainings offered for each new user
State Commissioners, Directors & Epidemiologists

Final Optimization & Go-Live

Phase 4
  • Make final tweaks before going live on your new EHR, then transition to Medicat’s ongoing support team and educational events

Timeline & Scheduling

In as little as one month, your clinic can be live on MedicatOne. Implementation timelines depend on a few key factors like clinic size, existing record imports, or third-party integrations.

  • Best time to start implementation: Late spring into summer, when the academic year is ending and staff availability is at its highest. Late fall (November/December) is also a great time to implement MedicatOne.

Data Migration

  • What moves: records needed for continuity of care, compliance, operations, and billing.
  • What can stay behind/archive: outdated templates, duplicate note types, unused forms, older inactive student records (retained separately for retention rules).
  • You don’t have to migrate everything — most campuses move currently enrolled + recently active students.
  • Immunization compliance status and dates carry forward, so compliant students stay compliant.

Training Your Team

  • The “superuser” model: identify a champion for focused one-on-one training who supports the rest of the team.
  • Role-specific cohort training (medical staff, counselors, supervisors) offered each month.

Support After Go-Live

  • In-house and onshore Customer Support Specialists for troubleshooting once you’re live.
  • Online Help Center with tutorials and product documentation.
  • Support continues well beyond implementation. Our team can be reached via Support Ticket or phone, if needed.

Decision & Implementation Timeline

EHR Decision Timeline for deployment
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What Makes an Implementation Successful

The strongest rollouts share a few habits. Come in with these in place and your path to go-live gets noticeably smoother.
  1. Name a superuser: Pick one person to get focused, one-on-one training and become your in-house expert — the one others turn to first.
  2. Line up an executive sponsor: When a health center director or clinical lead is visibly behind the change, roadblocks clear faster and staff take the transition seriously.
  3. Protect the time: Put the weekly working sessions and training on the calendar as real work, not something squeezed between appointments.
  4. Decide early what moves: Prioritize the records you need for continuity of care, compliance, and billing — archive the rest so the timeline stays tight.
  5. Loop in campus partners up front: Bring IT, the registrar, and anyone tied to your SIS or single sign-on into the conversation early to avoid surprises at go-live.
  6. Be open to improving, not just replicating: Treat the switch as a chance to modernize intake forms and routing rather than rebuilding old workarounds.
  7. Time go-live to your calendar: Aim for mid-fall or early spring, away from peak intake, to protect care during the transition.
You won’t do any of this alone! Your Onboarding Specialist guides each step. But teams that show up with these in hand tend to go live faster and with fewer bumps along the way.

Switching to a new EHR isn’t so scary!

Hear directly from your peers about their experiences transitioning their student health or counseling clinics to MedicatOne. They’ll tell you one thing: “I only wished we had made the switch sooner!”

WNE University Case Study
Case Study

Western New England University

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Sarah Lawrence College Featured
Case Study

Sarah Lawrence College

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Frequently Asked Questions

What does the implementation process actually look like?

After you sign your Medicat contract, you’re paired with a dedicated Customer Onboarding Specialist.

You’ll have a kick-off call to set goals, an initial setup phase (database setup, branded patient portal, SSO, create accounts for the first users), and then weekly working sessions leading up to an agreed go-live date. Training for admins and end users is included throughout the onboarding process.

How long does implementation take?

Implementation can take as little as one month. Medicat provides “cohort trainings” to rapidly configure the solution to your needs and train your team. Exact implementation timelines can vary depending on your organization’s unique requirements (e.g., historical record import, 3rd party system interfaces, etc.).

Who will we work with during implementation?

A dedicated Customer Onboarding Specialist guides you from kick-off through go-live and coordinates with your IT team on installation, configuration, and data migration. After go-live, you will be able to contact our  Customer Support team via support ticket and leverage our Help Center for educational resources and ongoing webinars and trainings.

Do we need to migrate ALL of our records?

No. Most campuses move currently enrolled and recently active students, along with records needed for continuity of care, compliance, operations, and billing. Older inactive records can be retained separately to meet your retention requirements.

Will immunization compliance status transfer for each student?

Yes, implementation carries forward each student’s compliance status and immunization dates, so students who were cleared before the upgrade to Medicat stay cleared after it.

Can Medicat recreate our current workflows?

Yes, of course! Plus, the implementation process offers a chance for us to suggest changes and optimize your workflows. Rather than copying old processes exactly, most campuses use the switch to move to even more efficient and straightforward workflows.

How is our staff trained?

Your staff is trained through hands-on virtual trainings that are offered on a monthly basis. Training is tailored to roles like medical staff, counselors, and front desk administrators to train each person quickly on the type of tasks they’ll be doing in Medicat each day.

How do you avoid disrupting patient care during implementation?

With strategic go-live timing, a clear cutover plan, prioritizing active patient data, parallel processes where needed, and early communication with any of your campus partners.

Ready for the next step?