There are two sides to every coin.
But are both sides valued equally?
When it comes to partnering with a Healthcare managed IT service, what should they be doing? The sad truth is, most IT personnel come in, do their job, and leave without any sort of follow up. While you may not want to be bothered with a detailed explanation as to what was done, a simple check in before leaving should be a common standard for onsite visits.
Getting the Most of Your Healthcare Managed IT Services
What should your healthcare managed IT services provider be doing? These seven things:
- Security and compliance
- Routine backups
- Network infrastructure management
- 24/7 monitoring and support
- Continuous planning
- Cybersecurity
- Software liaison
1. Security and Compliance
As a healthcare provider, your guidelines for security are stricter than ever. Especially since Covid-19 and a 500% increase in phishing attacks. Your managed IT service provider should be checking state complacency requirements regularly to ensure you are compliant.
Suffice it to say, any changes because of state regulations should be implemented immediately. Being out of compliance can be very costly.
2. Routine Backups
The average patient load for a primary care provider is between 2,500-3,000 patients. Healthcare providers are essentially a giant vault of personal data for their patients. Your IT service provider should be conducting and monitoring your routine backups.
Imagine you just filled out an entire patient chart on their recent visit, and you try to open it a few days later and it’s gone. What now? Your IT provider should be able to quickly recover the documents with 100% accuracy from the moment it was deleted.
3. Network Infrastructure Management
This should be the bread and butter of your IT provider's services. As your IT provider, their job is to maintain and manage your business’s network. This includes:
- Computers
- Servers
- Switches
- Access points
- Printers
Ensuring that your infrastructure is working with little to no errors is critical to your business’s workflow.
4. 24/7 Monitoring and Support
Another one that should be standard for all IT providers: Your IT provider should provide around-the-clock support of your systems.
Unfortunately, that isn’t the case.
The medical field never sleeps, and neither should its IT service providers. Not only should they be available as needed the service to fix any issues, they should also offer a service level agreement that lays out their promised response times. Response times should be agreed upon by both parties before singing the contract.
5. Continuous Planning
The healthcare field changes nonstop. Your IT provider should be accommodating for changes and be ready to make adjustments as needed or required. Additionally, your IT provider should be keeping up with trends in the healthcare field and presenting proposed directions in a quarterly business meeting (QBR).
QBR meetings are also a great time for you to ask your IT provider questions on what has been going on around your network. Your IT provider should be able to provide you with detailed breakdowns and several reports upon request.
6. Cybersecurity
This is a big one. If this sounds like a repeat of the first service we mentioned, that’s because it sort of is.
That said, your IT provider should be providing you with a business-grade antivirus protection that monitors your network 24/7 for any malicious programs that sneak their way into the network. A few other areas of cybersecurity your IT provider should provide are:
- Email monitoring
- Firewall security subscriptions
- Device warranty upgrades
- Continued training
Interested in getting covered against today's cyberthreats? Contact us!
7. Software Liaison
It’s not uncommon to walk into a healthcare provider’s office and feel a sense or urgency around the office. That’s because (generally speaking) the healthcare field is fast-paced.. Due to the nature of the field, your time is focused and devoted to your patients. Your IT provider should be your “middleman” when it comes to your business’s software.
As your software liaison, your IT provider should be negotiating pricing for renewals, contacting support for anything that is out of their realm of support, and conducting any in-house support that your software requires.
Choosing the Right Provider
Choosing the right provider for your business should not be a quick process. Carefully selecting your IT provider will pay dividends for your business in the long run.
Does My Healthcare Managed IT Service Provider Have to be Local?
Historically, healthcare providers have been hindered by whatever support is local to them. However, with advancements in technology that’s no longer the case. Remote IT services bring enhanced protection to your network regardless of distance. Interested in hearing what services we offer? Contact us!