Healthcare
Proactive Drupal support that kept Altru Health System secure and scaling
THE CHALLENGE
A support contract that wasn't actually supporting anything
Altru Health System runs a large, constantly growing library of patient-facing healthcare content. Their previous vendor treated that scale as background noise — working ticket to ticket with no view of what came next.
- Security updates had fallen behind, leaving known vulnerabilities unpatched on a healthcare platform
- The vendor operated reactively with no proactive maintenance or forward planning
- A growing content library had outgrown its architecture, with no governance in place
- Patients had trouble finding relevant information quickly on a hospital site
- ADA compliance and performance needed sustained attention, not a one-time pass
THE SOLUTION
Transitioning from reactive maintenance to a platform that keeps pace
A proactive support model built around the platform, not the ticket queue
Specbee took over with a security-first maintenance model: Drupal core and module updates on schedule, vulnerabilities caught before they became exposures, and a steady cadence of feature work alongside routine maintenance.
- Continuous Drupal core and contributed module updates
- Proactive vulnerability monitoring and remediation
- On-demand feature development alongside routine maintenance
- An engagement built around ongoing collaboration rather than a ticket queue
A redesign built around how patients search
The team ran a full site redesign, reworking navigation and tightening user journeys so patients could find what they came for.
- Full site redesign and UX overhaul
- Navigation and content structure optimization
- Tightened user journeys to reduce friction
Content architecture and governance for a growing library
Specbee restructured the underlying data architecture and tightened content governance and publishing workflows, so Altru's team could keep adding healthcare content without the platform straining under the volume.
- Data architecture restructured for scalability
- Content governance and publishing workflow improvements
Sustained ADA compliance and performance improvements
SEO, performance, and ADA work ran as continuous threads throughout the engagement. That sustained approach brought a large healthcare site to nearly full accessibility compliance.
- ADA compliance work continued throughout the engagement, reaching nearly 100%
- SEO across metadata, content structure, and performance
- Site performance improvements across the engagement
Search architecture and content discoverability
Search got a meaningful overhaul. New landing and listing pages made the content library easier to surface, and steady search improvements helped patients reach the right information faster.
- Search overhaul for patient-facing content
- New landing and listing pages for discoverability
- Steady search experience improvements across the engagement
BACKGROUND
When Altru came to Specbee, the ask was clear: stop the platform from falling further behind. Their previous vendor had left them in a reactive posture, fixing problems after they surfaced. For a healthcare platform handling patient-facing content, that gap was a real risk.
KEY INSIGHT
Small issues had compounded quietly.
Governance gaps, unpatched modules, and search that surfaced the wrong content were each undramatic on their own. Together they shaped a platform that couldn't keep up. The shift from reactive to proactive changed the trajectory.
The Results
A healthcare platform built to keep up with its own growth
Measured across security posture, accessibility, and user experience.
| Metric | Before | After |
|---|---|---|
| Security updates | Behind, reactive | Current, proactive |
| ADA compliance | Gaps throughout | Near 100% |
| Search experience | Poor content surfacing | Improved + new landing pages |
| Content governance | Ad hoc | Defined workflows and architecture |
| Vendor relationship | Ticket-based, no strategy | Ongoing partnership |
Near 100%
ADA compliance
Continuous accessibility work, not a one-time audit pass.
Cleared
Security backlog
Consistent updates removed the platform's biggest standing risk.
Improved
Search experience
New landing and listing pages made the content library navigable.
Scalable
Content operations
Tighter governance means new content doesn't strain the platform.
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Work With Us
Talk to the team that delivered this
Most conversations start with a 30-minute call and a look at where you are today. No pitch deck. No pressure. Just clarity on what the right path forward looks like for your platform.
Typically respond within 1 business day · 100% Drupal-focused team · No generalists