Challenges abound in every business, but those challenges usually aren't literally life-or-death situations. Unfortunately, that's often the case in healthcare--and something as simple as a tech glitch could cause critical delays. Here's a closer look at those challenges and how one solution--managed IT services--saves the day.
How Managed IT Fits Healthcare Facilities
The first thing to understand about managed IT services is that it isn't a solution "copy/pasted" from other industries. Of course, managed IT may be informed by many of the same best practices and solutions necessary for businesses like retail, manufacturing, and even education; however, this background information is only used to build an effective foundation--the rest is personalized.
How does that happen? It all comes down to the managed IT provider responsible for creating a relationship with your healthcare organization. This begins with an IT audit, which is how you and your provider learn about all the tech tools being utilized in your facility--as well as how, when, and why these tools are most important. This is what turns those basic approaches and best practices into solution fully personalized for your organization.
Simply put, managed IT services is designed so every detail reflects you, your needs, and--perhaps most importantly--your patients.
Managed IT: Healthcare Challenges And Solutions
Once managed IT services is up and running, you and your provider can analyze and target specific challenges in your workflow, tech environment, and more. Here are just a few examples of what that may look like and how managed IT helps choose the best solutions:
Challenge: Protecting Sensitive Data
Sensitive data is unavoidable in the healthcare industry. It's part of everything you do--so while it must be protected for patient safety and privacy, it must also be flexible enough for sharing, updating, and file-keeping processes. That means you must find a balance between security and efficiency. This is especially true when you have multiple locations to share information between or if you need to distribute data to third-party specialists.
Solution: Secure data capture, storage, and sharing
Juggling all this sensitive data usually comes down to the tech tools you utilize. Managed IT services can help you choose and implement the machines that will help you switch from inefficient manual processes to approaches that are both fast and safe. For example, your provider might help you budget for a scanner to read and capture data, send documents directly to a patient's email, automatically store files in password-protected folders, and more.
Challenge: Improving User Experiences
In healthcare, there are two basic types of tech users: internal and external. Internally, doctors and nurses need functional interfaces and access to all the right tools, repositories, and more; externally, patients expect speed, efficiency, and clear direction. This is true no matter what tech solution is on the table.
Solution: Optimized tech stacks
Many experience issues can be traced back to the types of technology you're using and how you're using them. Managed IT helps you identify which devices, connections, or tools are causing frustration and then reviews the cause of the issue. If, for example, a patient portal isn't easy to use, your provider might recommend switching to a different tool; on the other hand, if you're just using the wrong settings, your provider can help you rectify these errors and make better use of your existing portal.
Challenge: Upgrading Outdated Technology
Outdated technology leads to inefficiency--which, in turn, leads to confusion, frustration, and potential delays. Healthcare facilities like yours need tech that's as reliable as it is functional, which means outdated solutions can't be allowed to overstay their welcome.
Solution: Identifying and upgrading the right solutions
Not every machine needs to be upgraded right away. Instead, managed IT helps you identify which are most critical to your internal and external users. From there, you'll work with your provider to decide if utilization processes could be improved or settings could be optimized to help you get more out of the solution--and, if not, you'll have the support you need to budget for appropriate upgrades.
Challenge: Meeting Fast-Moving Demands
Patients expect more from their healthcare than ever before: more visibility, more functionality, more speed, more efficiency. If you're going to meet these demands without creating security vulnerabilities or undermining HIPAA regulations, you need a solid technological foundation and all the right tools.
Solution: Improved workflows and personalized solutions
Managed IT is all about building solutions around your needs. That means your provider can help streamline or strengthen your workflows, consolidate or upgrade machines, automate manual processes, digitize communication, and more--all depending on what your patients expect and how you want to offer it to them. In some cases, your provider may even be able to help you identify what's working for the competition and why the same approach will or won't work for you.
In conclusion, managed IT is a perfect fit for healthcare organizations because it can be customized to fit unique needs. That means patients, nurses, and doctors will all benefit from smoother, more effective technology and a simpler experience.
Contact us today to see how managed IT services can support your healthcare organization.