The Benefits of Managed IT Services for Doctors Offices

Did you know Texas has over 68,000 active doctors — the third most in the U.S.? 

While physicians must focus on looking after patients, they must also consider things like protecting their IT assets.

Cyberattacks can hurt any company in Austin, San Antonio, or elsewhere. If you’re a tech decision-maker in the state’s mid-market healthcare, commercial construction, or pharma areas, managed IT services can help.

Do you want to learn how leveraging cloud services via an IT services company can increase productivity and decrease risk?

Continue reading to see the benefits of managed IT services for doctors offices. But before doing so, ensure you know what managed IT services entail.

What Are Managed IT Services

If your healthcare practice lacks the in-house expertise to handle IT, one option is to go through the time- and cost-intensive process of hiring IT staff. But outsourcing can give you the expertise you need at a competitive cost.

A provider of managed IT services will shoulder responsibility for your medical practice’s IT services needs. 

It can offer monitoring and maintenance, backups and disaster recovery, and other essential services so that you and your staff can focus on patients.

Outsourcing means you’ll be able to delegate to professional IT personnel. And accessing what you need in the cloud means you won’t need to host equipment and servers on-site. The third-party IT services firm will handle everything.

Advantages of IT Managed Services

One obvious benefit of hiring a managed IT company is that you can offload that responsibility to a service provider specializing in the IT services space. But that’s just the tip of the iceberg since there are other advantages.

Here’s a look at several reasons why outsourcing IT services is a good idea.

Ramp Up Security

The cybersecurity threat landscape is fierce, and there’s no room for complacency. Your healthcare practice needs to have a strategy in place to mitigate risks and safeguard your corporate network from hackers.

It’s essential to know how to reduce the risks associated with data breaches, combat external and internal threats, and remain in compliance with applicable regulations, laws, and policies.

A managed IT company that specializes in helping healthcare practices will have the processes and procedures in place to help your organization.

Offer Higher Level of Patient Care

If you and your staff are preoccupied with IT services when you should be focused on patient care, neither responsibility will get the attention required. It’s best to retain the services of a third party so you can focus on patients.

And when that’s the case, the quality of patient care will go up. Your patients will have the undivided attention of the workers at your medical office.

Pain-Free HIPAA Compliance

Healthcare organizations are required to comply with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA). It requires healthcare organizations to safeguard sensitive patient health data.

This health information isn’t to be disclosed without the patient’s knowledge and consent. Hiring a managed IT services agency with experience helping doctors’ offices with their HIPPA compliance needs will work wonders.

You won’t have to worry about inadvertently running afoul of rules that can lead to substantial fines and reputational damage.

Better Record Keeping

When you hire a reputable IT services company, you can access medical office technology that helps you run and more efficient office. It’s all about the cloud.

You’ll have access to tools like electronic health records and electronic billing tools. The service provider can also advise you on what’s best for your company.

Cost Savings

As was mentioned above, hiring a managed IT services company will also save you money. Your healthcare practice won’t have to hire IT workers since you’ll have access to the highly skilled and experienced staff at the IT services firm.

Furthermore, you’ll sign an agreement that offers a fixed monthly cost. Many businesses across many industries are finding savings by going to the cloud. When you team up with the right IT services provider, the savings can add up.

Reduce Unplanned Downtime

According to one source, the average cost of downtime is north of $5,600 per minute. That’s $336,000 per hour or more than $8 million per day. Can your healthcare business afford an incident that shuts down your operations?

Unplanned downtime means you might not be able to meet the needs of patients, your workers won’t be able to do their work, and you’ll have to deal with a financial loss.

Hiring a managed IT services provider will reduce the odds of your medical office facing unplanned downtime. And in the event that such a scenario materializes, the service provider will be able to rectify the matter quickly.

When helping patients, the last thing you need is unplanned downtime. Being unable to render care could easily be a matter of life and death. So, getting the right IT services firm will help your healthcare practice to meet its objectives.

Scalability

Are you confident in your healthcare organization’s ability to quickly and seamlessly scale? If you have to buy new tools or hire more staff to accomplish this, scaling up will be a royal pain.

A managed IT services company will help your company scale up or down to meet the needs of customers or comply with regulations. Such a company will ensure you can move forward without missing a beat.

Do You Need a Managed IT Services Provider for Doctors Offices?

If your medical practice in Austin or San Antonio needs help on the IT front, consider how a managed IT services company like Terminal B can help.

Finding the right managed services provider for your healthcare business shouldn’t be difficult. In today’s business environment, you need a proactive and responsive third party that puts your business and customers first.

We specialize in providing IT services for doctors offices. Get in touch today to find out how what we do can help your healthcare organization.