Connected care starts here: how Altera Digital Health built a secure, scalable network with Lumen

Altera Digital Health is redefining how technology supports care delivery. Their mission is simple yet profound: make healthcare easier to access, understand and navigate. With a global footprint and solutions that power hospitals and health systems worldwide, Altera designs electronic health record (EHR) platforms, interoperability tools and patient engagement solutions that fit seamlessly into clinical workflows.

But as the healthcare industry accelerates digital transformation—migrating EHRs to the cloud, enabling telehealth and strengthening security—Altera faced a critical challenge: how to modernize connectivity without disrupting the clinical environments that depend on it every second of every day.

“Connectivity is the backbone of healthcare,” said Network Services Leader Bruce Holloway. “We needed flexibility and security without compromise.”

Modernizing for a new era of care

Healthcare organizations today are under immense pressure to deliver better outcomes while navigating economic constraints, cybersecurity threats and evolving compliance mandates. For Altera, these challenges were compounded by a legacy wide area network (WAN) model that relied on third-party providers for connectivity.

Bandwidth upgrades required lengthy circuit replacements. Routing changes were cumbersome and time-consuming. Service assurance visibility was ad hoc, making incident management reactive rather than proactive. And every delay had real-world consequences—impacting clinicians’ ability to access patient records, coordinate care and maintain continuity across multiple hospital sites.

With HIPAA compliance and rising ransomware threats, uptime and security weren’t optional—they were non-negotiable. Altera needed a network that could scale bandwidth on demand, deliver predictable performance for electronic medical records (EMR) traffic and simplify governance across a distributed footprint. The goal wasn’t just modernization—it was transformation.

Building a cloud-ready network with Lumen

Altera partnered with Lumen to create a secure, scalable foundation for digital health innovation. The solution began with Lumen® IP VPN, delivering healthcare-grade connectivity with dedicated bandwidth and centralized policy control. This helps deliver predictable performance for EHR systems and clinical workflows—critical in an environment where seconds matter.

But connectivity was only part of the equation. Altera wanted simplicity and agility. Lumen provided a single-vendor model that consolidated connectivity, service assurance and portal governance under one umbrella, reducing vendor sprawl and accelerating change execution.

Proactive support was another differentiator. Weekly cadence calls, escalation management and telemetry reviews gave Altera confidence that every change window and incident would be handled with precision. This structured approach allowed their IT specialists to focus on innovation rather than troubleshooting.

“Lumen’s proactive support and flexibility have transformed how we manage connectivity—our customers notice the difference,” Holloway said.

The partnership also opened doors to future-ready capabilities. With the Lumen roadmap for SD-WAN, SASE and edge services, Altera is positioned to extend beyond its current IP VPN estate and embrace emerging technologies that will shape the next decade of healthcare.

Secure connectivity that powers innovation and improves experience

The impact was immediate and measurable. Altera achieved faster bandwidth upgrades through logical provisioning, eliminating the need for disruptive circuit swaps. Structured service assurance reduced SLA payouts and improved NPS scores—a clear indicator of better customer experience.

Migration to Azure became seamless, enabling Altera to move clients from colocation facilities to cloud environments without friction. Portal governance simplified day-to-day operations, reducing administrative overhead and improving visibility across installs, order closures and change windows.

By consolidating services under Lumen, Altera gained more than a network—they gained a foundation for secure, scalable care delivery. Every infrastructure decision now supports their ultimate goal: empowering clinicians, protecting patient data and driving innovation without compromise.

Future-ready for digital health innovation

Modernization isn’t just about solving today’s challenges—it’s about preparing for tomorrow. With a Lumen network foundation in place, Altera is equipped to accelerate its roadmap for SD-WAN adoption, multicloud expansion and advanced security services like DDoS mitigation and intrusion prevention and detection systems.

These capabilities will support emerging trends in healthcare, including telehealth, AI-driven insights and interoperability at scale. They’ll enable clinicians to collaborate seamlessly across regions, give patients faster access to their health records and provide peace of mind that sensitive data is protected.

Altera’s vision is clear: improve outcomes for all stakeholders by leveraging innovation and human-centered design. Together with Lumen, they’re creating a resilient, scalable foundation for connected care—one that empowers hospitals to deliver better experiences today while preparing for the future of healthcare.

To learn more about Altera Digital Health’s transformation, read the full customer success story.

Visit our customer story library to learn how organizations in virtually every industry are achieving their business objectives.

^{Current Lumen customer compensated for their endorsement.}

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