Managed IT services are becoming more popular with time. Companies are outsourcing their IT operations to a third party instead of handling it themselves. These 3rd-party organizations are known as Managed Service Providers or MSPs. MSPs will help you in handling all your IT services and systems. They will provide IT support to your business and monitor your systems. The relationship between clients and MSPs is defined through a Service Level Agreement or SLA. These contracts will specify the services, conditions, and fees provided by the Managed Service Provider.
There are various managed IT service providers who specialize in the IT requirements and services used in the healthcare industry. They provide compliance management, HIPAA compliance, cloud migration, risk management, monitoring, data backup, IT support, and disaster recovery. In this article, we are going to talk about the importance of IT managed Services for Healthcare Industry.
Why do Hospitals and healthcare organizations need IT-managed services?
If you are running a healthcare organization, then you should work with an MSP. Some of the main reasons are:
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Cyber-attacks
According to a survey from AMA, more than 75% of healthcare has experienced a cyber attack already. Most healthcare companies don’t focus on IT. Thus, it is easy to hack into their network. Healthcare companies take a lot of time to adopt new technologies. Due to this, healthcare providers are mostly seen as an easy target.
Healthcare organizations also have access to patient data. This data is highly valuable. Thus, attackers will try to steal this data from your organization. Security breaches can be extremely costly for medical organizations.
Experienced MSPs like Bleuwire can help you in protecting your patient data from attackers. They will help you in implementing the best and latest technology. Bleuwire will also help you in monitoring your systems for risks. They will help you in recovering your systems after a security breach.
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Healthcare organizations need access to highly specialized IT support and services
It is difficult to remain compliant with HIPAA regulations. Thus, you should ensure that you are working with an experienced MSP. Experienced MSPs will make sure that you are staying compliant with the latest HIPAA regulations and rules. They will also help you in understanding the impact of HIPAA rules on your business. This will ensure that you will stay compliant.
Experienced MSPs will also tell you about specific healthcare IT challenges. They will tell you how to solve challenges like integrating IT systems, moving to the cloud, managing patient records, and adding telehealth options.
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Healthcare organizations require 24*7 IT support
Healthcare organizations need 24*7 IT support. Thus, they can’t rely on an in-house IT team. A small in-house IT team can’t help you in tackling your IT needs and requirements. Experienced MSPs like Bleuwire can provide 24*7 IT support to your business. An MSP can provide you the reliability that you need. They will ensure that your data is protected from attackers.
Risks of Poor IT management
If you are not managing your IT effectively, then you are putting your healthcare business at risk. Most healthcare organizations are still using poorly integrated or outdated healthcare systems. Due to this, they are vulnerable to cyber-attacks. Healthcare organizations need to protect their patient data from attackers. They have access to valuable patient data. Thus, it is important to ensure that you are protecting your data from attackers.
Poorly implemented systems will decrease the efficiency of your organization. Thus, it is important to ensure that all your IT systems are properly implemented. If your systems are not integrated properly, then your employees will waste a lot of time. This will lead to a sub-par experience.
Patient data is very important for your organization. It is important to make sure that you are following the HIPPA rules and regulations. This will ensure that you are staying compliant. The consequence of data loss can be very severe for your business. You will lose patient trust due to the data loss. Also, you need to pay fines and penalties.
Benefits of working with an MSP
The main benefits of working with an MSP are:
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Overcome compliance challenges
The healthcare industry is heavily regulated by the government. Thus, it is important to ensure that you are meeting all the legal obligations like data encryption, security awareness training, and access management. Experienced MSPs like Bleuwire can take care of your compliance needs. They have worked with various hospitals and healthcare organizations. Thus, they already know the best tools and techniques that you should use.
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Improved patient care
If your IT systems are inefficient, then they will become unreliable with time. This can lead to compromised patient care. However, if you are using the best technology, then you can increase the engagement between patients and the employees. These technologies will also help you in optimizing your internal processes. Your employees will get access to the best technologies. Thus, MSP will help you in improving your patient care.
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Build scalable IT infrastructure
Scalability is still a big challenge for the healthcare sector. Most healthcare organizations are still using old data centers. They have access to limited physical space and a small IT budget. You can’t provide good patient care until you improve your IT infrastructure. A scalable IT infrastructure will help you in accommodating more patients. It will help you in training more staff.
A good MSP can help you in scaling up your IT infrastructure. They will use cloud-hosted infrastructure for scaling up your IT infrastructure. This will ensure that you don’t need to worry about buying any external hardware.
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Control your IT costs
If you are managing your IT infrastructure and systems, then you need to first invest a lot of capital in buying hardware like workstations and servers. These servers will also need regular updates and maintenance. You also need to hire the best IT talent for managing these systems. If something goes wrong, then your IT services will be down for some time.
If you are working with an MSP, then you don’t need to worry about these things. Your MSP will help you in avoiding downtime. They will help you in reducing your maintenance and infrastructure costs. You can also easily create your IT budget as you need to pay a fixed monthly fee to your MSP.
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Enable workplace mobility
Healthcare organizations can use mobile technologies for increasing their efficiency. However, these mobile technologies also come with their own set of risks. You need to consider the threat of data breaches if you are storing your data on mobile devices. Workplace mobility can also help you in improving patient engagement. It will help you in increasing employee satisfaction. Also, it will help you in saving costs by decreasing office costs. You can save a lot of money by cutting down your in-house IT infrastructure. If you are moving your data and applications to the cloud, then you can enjoy the benefits of anywhere accessibility. It will also help you in decreasing the risks.
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Fast response times
Response times are very important for your healthcare service. Thus, you should ensure that your MSP can provide you fast response time. You should be able to contact them whenever you want. This will ensure that your MSP will help you quickly in emergency cases.
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Business continuity
Healthcare organizations can’t lose access to their patient and medical data. Thus, you should ensure that in every case you can recover your medical data. Your MSP can assist you in recovering your systems from major outages. This will ensure that you can recover your healthcare organization from any outage.
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IT Security
You should ensure that you are meeting the data security regulation. If you are not meeting the data security regulations, then you might need to pay huge fines and penalties. Sometimes government bodies can also withdraw your license. Experienced MSPs like Bleuwire will offer you core security services. These security services will include access control, data integrity and accountability, authorized privileges, encryption, and identity-based security.
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Increased efficiency
Experienced MPSs will help you in increasing the efficiency of your entire healthcare organization. Their ROI is mainly driven by higher accuracy, dependability, and availability. You can even operate with reduced staff. Your MSP will help you in improving your safety and accountability. They will provide advanced management and monitoring capabilities to your business. Managed solutions will offer complete visibility to your IT leaders. This will ensure that you can check the health of your IT infrastructure. It will also help you in taking corrective actions and fixing your network.
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Provide staffing services
Staffing is becoming a big problem for healthcare organizations. Your MSP can help you in addressing this issue also. They will take full responsibility for your clinical labor and act as a point of contact for your staffing operations. Some MSPs will help you in managing your accounts. They will also provide customer support to your organization. This will ensure that you don’t need to worry about staffing services.
How you can implement Managed IT services with your healthcare practices?
You need to first find the perfect MSP for your organization. After that, you can start working with your MSP according to the defined SLA. Your MSP will also check your IT infrastructure first. They will perform an IT assessment for checking your IT needs. Also, they will help you in building a plan that can fix the broken things in your IT infrastructure. They will also suggest you some improvements. If you want to move to new technology, then they will help you in the migration process.
It is a good idea to move from on-premise solutions to cloud solutions. Experienced MSPs like Bleuwire can help you in moving your data and applications to the cloud. This will ensure that you don’t need to worry about the cloud migration process. They will also make sure that your systems are working properly during the migration process. You don’t need to worry about any downtime.
Your MSP will also help you in getting the maximum benefits from new technologies. They will help you in reducing costs by improving your staff performance. You can also support a remote workforce if you are working with a good MSP. Their main focus will be on your data security. They will provide a high level of data security to your organization.
Your MSP will also ensure that your current backup solution is working properly. They will help you in automating your backup solution. This will ensure that you don’t need to worry about manually backing up your data. They will implement the best disaster recovery solution. This will ensure that you maintain business continuity. You can also ask your MSP to set up new email services for your organization. They can also help you in implementing a modern VoIP or phone system.
Experienced MSPs like Bleuwire will first integrate the new systems and infrastructure that you need. After that, their focus will move to the risk assessment. They will help you in remediation planning and improving your data security. Your MSP will ensure that you are following all the relevant compliance protocols and measures.
The services will depend on your SLA. Your MSP will provide ongoing IT support to your business. They will help you in addressing all the issues related to your IT. You will also receive reports from your MSP. This will ensure that you know about the current security scenario of your healthcare IT systems. Also, it will help you in evaluating the performance of your IT systems. These reports will help you in responding to a HIPAA audit. Thus, you don’t need to worry about any unexpected audit.
How Bleuwire can help your business?
Most healthcare organizations don’t have time and staff to maintain their own IT infrastructure. Bleuwire can help you in solving all these solutions. They will help you in enjoying the benefits of cloud computing. You can improve your IT security posture by working with your MSP. Also, they will help you in strengthening your disaster recovery program. If you are working with Bleuwire, then you don’t need to worry about any downtime issues. Bleuwire will help you in supporting your medical practices. They will make sure that you can focus on your patients. If you need more information regarding IT services, then you can contact Bleuwire.
Contact us today to learn about Bleuwire™ services and solutions in how we can help your business.
