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8 Advantages of Managed IT Services for Healthcare Clinics

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StrategyDriven Managing Your Business Article | 8 Advantages of Managed IT Services for Healthcare Clinics

The pandemic has forced small businesses to look at their IT infrastructure. Many haven’t looked in years.

This forces premises owners to pay for managed IT support. What are managed IT services, and why should clinics look into them?

We’re here to help. Here’s a quick breakdown of managed IT services for healthcare. Plus the benefits they’ll have and the rest of your small business.

1. Increased Security and Risk Management

Managed IT services for healthcare clinics provide an efficient, cost-effective means of keeping patient information and medical records secure. These services come with up-to-date security and risk management. This makes it easier for clinic staff to ensure regulatory compliance.

Use full-time IT support personnel to track the system and clinics. Doing so can rest assured that their data will be kept private and to the highest standards. Furthermore, you can also explore specialized software designs.

This is to protect data from malicious attacks. Plus, it also helps to cut the chances of any malicious activities occurring in the system.

IT services for healthcare clinics are the perfect solution for increased security and risk management. Timely updates ensure all compliant regulations are met. Plus, staff can focus on providing the best care available.

2. Scalability

Scalability means being able to increase or decrease the number of IT tools you have. This is to meet the clinic’s ever-changing needs. Managed IT services let healthcare centers add IT services as they are needed.

Without buying expensive gear or software. This helps make sure the health center has the right tools when it needs them.

The clinic doesn’t have to spend money on tools that it doesn’t need right away. Also, getting new hardware or software is more expensive than using healthcare IT services. In the long run, this could save the clinic money.

3. Operating Cost Savings

Through managed IT services, healthcare clinics can reduce long-term IT operating costs. This includes hardware, software, and personnel. Data storage and networking solutions are often managed in the cloud.

It can be beneficial instead of an on-site server, which reduces overhead costs. Additionally, healthcare IT services provide flexibility as your business grows or changes. This helps to save significant amounts of money over time.

The provider’s professionals are experienced in assessing and scaling IT solutions in line with clinical needs. Also, ensure to have periodic maintenance and round-the-clock support provided by the provider. This is to ensure that clinical IT solutions remain up-to-date and cut the cost of fixing issues.

4. Improved Access, Availability and Performance

Managed IT services for healthcare clinics can improve access availability and performance in many ways. For one, healthcare IT services can ensure that all healthcare staff have access to the resources they need. This helps to continue providing a high level of care for their patients.

With managed IT services, healthcare clinics can also access solution-based hosting. This enables them to store, retrieve, and share patient information across systems.

Finally, healthcare IT services can also provide hands-on IT support and troubleshooting. This helps decrease downtime and network disruptions that can impede patient care.

5. Compliance

Healthcare clinics can enjoy managed IT services due to their compliance benefits. Compliance requires not only quality data storage and security. But also an understanding of all applicable government regulations.

With managed IT services, healthcare clinics can keep up with ever-changing compliance standards. Managed IT service providers will assess and adhere to standards. This includes issues such as HIPAA and HITECH provisions.

This helps ensure that your clinic remains compliant. Furthermore, service providers will work with you to create policies and procedures.

This should address any issues of non-compliance. They will provide you with regular security assessments and training. By doing so, your clinic’s data remains secure and compliant.

6. Current Application Support

Managed IT services can offer healthcare clinic’s current application support. It can be difficult to find traditional IT companies. By having managed IT services, healthcare clinics can prevent their applications from becoming outdated and unsupported.

Having current application support can improve the effectiveness of a clinic. Through healthcare IT services, clinics can receive remote support. This in return reduces downtime when an application fails.

Additionally, current application support for healthcare clinics can prevent potential security breaches and data loss. All of this can arise from using outdated or unsupported applications.

With IT services, healthcare clinics can have the peace of mind that their applications are up-to-date and running. In return, they can perform their job to the best of their ability.

7. Improved Uptime

IT managed services can detect problems before they affect the system’s performance. This allows for any issues to be addressed. This reduces downtime and helps to maximize the operational performance of the healthcare clinic.

By utilizing managed IT services, healthcare providers enjoy improved uptime. The addition of healthcare IT services results in timely resolution to any issues. These issues could cause downtime or performance delays.

However, it can still maintain the required levels of compliance within the healthcare industry. Advancements in cloud computing have enabled healthcare IT services to provide high performance no matter the size.

8. Focused IT Resources

With healthcare IT services, the IT resources of the clinic are tailored to the needs of healthcare clinics. This ensures their IT departments are dedicated to the most critical functions. This eliminates the need to hire IT staff who may lack the specific healthcare experience needed to secure the clinic’s network.

Focusing on IT resources also allows the clinic to focus on innovative solutions. These solutions can help improve patient experience and generate cost savings. With IT services, the clinic can scale its IT resources as needed.

This is to address growing demand and ever-evolving technology. Use the expertise and solutions of an experienced IT consulting firm.

By doing so, healthcare clinics can take advantage of focused IT resources. Plus, they can focus on patient care and develop cost-effective IT strategies.

The Importance of Managed IT Services for Healthcare

Managed IT services for healthcare clinics bring many advantages that keep clinics running. This includes robust security, cost savings, and uptime.

Invest in a professional, experienced managed IT service provider. This means high-quality, dependable technology that helps clinics perform better and better manage their resources.

Get in touch with an IT professional today. Learn about the managed IT services your clinic could benefit from.

Keep scrolling to discover more insightful articles right here on this page.

Factors to Consider When Choosing Managed IT Services

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StrategyDriven Managing Your Business Article |Managed IT Services|Factors to Consider When Choosing Managed IT ServicesTechnology is on the rise in every sector of the world, including the business sector. Technology demands for business have made it a necessity to have a department managing IT. Management of IT has today become a vital aspect of every business.

As a result, most businesses have opted to have an internal IT department to help manage the technical aspects of a business. However, some companies have opted to outsource IT management services from professional managed IT service providers. Being that technology is an integral part of business IT, it is essential to always choose a provider with high levels of skills that will provide you with excellent services. Settling on a provider is not easy because there are numerous managed IT service providers.

Here are some if the important factors that you should consider when choosing a managed IT service provider.

Security

With the high levels of cybercrime, security has become an important aspect of a business. However, ensuring a high-end securing can be difficult and costly. With that in mind, you must choose a service provider that does not just monitor your information system and infrastructure. But you must consider a company that can also offer strategic security plans.

With a rigid and reliable IT security, you can ensure all customer and employee data remain safe and secure. Reliable IT managed services ensure to encrypt your network to prevent people from accessing it not unless with permission. Network encryption also allows you to monitor any activity that is conducted on your network. This gives you a straightforward way to detect suspicious activities, giving you an opportunity to come up with an appropriate measure to counter it. With this, you can guarantee that you can minimize and prevent risks of cybersecurity threats from infecting your IT system and infrastructure.

Due to the nature of their work, IT support providers gain access to sensitive company information and private data. As a result, you should ensure the company has a high level of confidentiality. Or you can limit the extent of information they access to have some discretion. You should identify the initiatives the company will take to guarantee the confidentiality of your sensitive information and customer data.

Availability

One of the most essential factors to consider about manage IT companies is their service availability. The company should provide service and support 24/7/365. Quality IT managed services company will provide you with qualified IT personnel to take care of your IT needs on a shifting basis. IT service providers assure constant delivery of top-notch managed IT services through continuous and round the clock IT support.

Determining the availability of the company is crucial. This is because it will help you ascertain how proficient the IT service provider can be. 24/7/365 IT monitoring means that the company will be in a position to offer updates and provide technical support as quickly as possible. On top of this, the constant monitoring of systems also allows them to detect IT related issues in a timely manner before they became a major problem in the organization.

With early detection of problems, your provider will be able to quickly come up with solutions to the problems. This guarantees that your business can prevent worse system problems and IT disasters in the future.

The managed IT service provider you choose must be capable of addressing all your concerns. Apart from 24/7 system monitoring, the company should also provide a responsive service desk where your employees can be able to reach them for support, either through call, email or chat. This allows you staff to have a faster resolution to any IT challenge that they might face, such as problems logging in.


Scalability

You should always remember business growth when selecting an IT managed services provider. Your business demand today may not be as critical to what your business will have in a few months or years. That is why it is important to hire a service provider that understands your ever-changing business needs.

Reliable and experienced IT managed service providers offer scalable services. This means that their IT services will adapt to all the technical needs of your business. For instance, if the number of employees in your organization increases by a large number, say from 3000 to 4500, the IT service provider should be able to provide you with enough skilled personnel to provide quick and timely resolutions to prevent a decrease in productivity. This allows the It service providers to meet all your IT requirements smoothly and effectively. Through this, you can ensure that your IT system and infrastructure will be able to adapt to the changes as a result of business growth.

Experience and expertise

It is imperative to consider the experience and skill of the company. Should the personnel have the right skills, knowledge and expertise? The IT service company should have a team of professionals in IT who are certified to offer these services, thereby preventing amateur companies from experimenting with your IT infrastructure. Reliable service providers are ones that have successfully handled a number of clients from different industries.

Every industry is unique. Similarly, every organization and company has its own way of handling day to day operations. Consequently, every business has varying and different IT requirements. As a result, you must choose a provider with a proven reputation and experience of handling IT needs of a diverse set of clients. This shows the company can offer unique IT services that your system needs.

Additionally, you should choose a company with the ability to provide cloud back up and data recovery services. Generally, the company should be able to provide solutions to any problems with your network and computers. If you hire a company that does not offer full IT support, then you will have to incur additional costs of hiring a new company or losses from unsatisfied customers or clients.

Conclusion

Outsourcing managed IT services allow you to focus on other vital needs of your business. With the best IT service, you can ensure that your network is secure and stable. This allows you to maintain smooth business operations. You need to ensure you only outsource services from a well proven and reliable company.

Startup Ideas: 5 Sectors Unaffected By COVID-19

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StrategyDriven Starting Your Business Article |Startup Ideas|Startup Ideas: 5 Sectors Unaffected By COVID-19The COVID-19 novel coronavirus has changed life as we once knew it for virtually everyone across the planet. Billions of people globally have had their lives turned upside-down, with COVID-19 failing to spare individuals from any background, location, or class in society.

Businesses have also been hard-hit by COVID-19, with small independent and large multinational firms alike having to close their doors for good. But, some firms have escaped relatively unscathed from the devastation brought by this global pandemic.

If you’re looking to embrace the entrepreneurial spirit from within you, it’s likely you want to start a business that is most likely to survive such global pandemics like COVID-19. With that in mind, here are five examples of startup business sectors you need to consider:

1. Vehicle Maintenance

When countries impose strong lockdown curfews on their citizens, only businesses deemed “essential” are allowed to operate as normal. Vehicle maintenance garages are one such example and have seen no decline in trade despite the current COVID-19 pandemic.

Vehicles used by key workers and emergency services still need to function as intended. Those repair workshops are crucial at keeping a nation’s network of supplies and essential services working as it should.

2. IT Services

Technology is another necessity in today’s modern world. It has proven a welcome boon when coordinating COVID-19 care and support for communities across the globe. And it’s still going to be around long after the coronavirus pandemic becomes a distant memory.

IT consulting and support services companies offer a variety of solutions for residential and corporate users alike. They are one of the few sectors virtually unaffected by COVID-19. IT services encompass sectors ranging from cloud computing through to content streaming.

3. Delivery Services

Logistics play a vital role in the functioning and development of any nation’s infrastructure. Without delivery services in place, businesses wouldn’t have the resources they need to provide their products and services.

During the peak of COVID-19 in many countries, particular attention got focused on delivery services. Especially ones that could transport much-needed items such as medicine to healthcare centers, and groceries to individuals self-isolating due to COVID-19 symptoms.

4. Insurance

It might surprise you to learn that the insurance industry as a whole is least affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite the economic chaos that the coronavirus has brought most nations, it’s still “business as usual” for insurers.

For a start, workers at insurance companies can mostly continue providing services remotely from home. That’s thanks, in part, to the digitization of insurance products. Another reason is due to the continued requirement for consumer and corporate protection against risks.

5. Pharmaceuticals

One sector to consider that is both unaffected by COVID-19 and economic recessions is the pharmaceutical industry. Irrespective of what’s going on in the world, people (and animals) still need medicine to treat illnesses and diseases.

When talking about the pharmaceutical industry, there’s not just the production of medicine. Related sectors such as research and development are also largely unaffected by the COVID-19 crisis.

In-House or Outsourced IT: Which Is Best for Your Business?

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StrategyDriven Managing Your Business Article |In-house or Outsourced IT|In-House or Outsourced IT: Which Is Best for Your Business?Presently, IT businesses have a lot of requirements and various tasks to be done from design, content creation up to development, marketing, and administrative work. Every task is important and requires human resources. The main question is whether to hire a full-time in-house team or outsource and bring in the experts only when it’s necessary?

In-house vs. Outsourced IT: What’s the difference?

The insourcing or in-house team is a practice when the work and tasks are performed within the operational infrastructure of the company. While outsourcing is a process of contracting experts, who are not affiliated with the organization, for completing specific tasks.

The main difference between the approaches is the way tasks, projects, and work are divided between the departments for strategic purposes. So, what is best for your company: an in-house or outsourced team? Both approaches have their own benefits and limitations. Let’s get to the bottom of the beneficial and negative impacts of each practice.

In-house IT team: Benefits and Limitations

Hiring employees to your in-house IT team, the huge advantage is that you can train them to your business’s specific needs, and the workers are always available. When interviewing the candidates, you choose only those who suit the requisite level of skills, knowledge, experience. Thus, you control, monitor, and track all the processes of hiring and work.

The deep understanding is the next advantage. The office workers know the culture of the company and are aware of all project aspects and business objectives. Besides that, they work with the project from the very beginning that means they know it in detail. Thus, the team can start to work immediately without a need to get familiar with it.

The high quality is an unquestionable advantage of insourcing that stems from the previous issues. When you build the in-house team, you can be sure that they will do their best, and you’ll get the results that suit your expectations.

The main drawbacks of hiring office workers can mainly relate to the initial financial outlay. Thus, you need to train the newbies of the team, and after you need to constantly update their knowledge and skills. That can be a costly affair.

That’s saying nothing about the regular salary with the full pack of employee benefits, including vacation, sick leaves, and so on. Besides, it doesn’t matter if there is a task for a worker or not, you need to pay a salary anyway.

Absence issues are the next pitfalls to mention. In case your team member is sick or just leaves the company, some time along with the money is needed on new hiring or endure project pauses.

Outsourced IT team: Benefits and Limitations

Due to the Deloitte global outsourcing survey made in 2016, there are two primary reasons companies outsource:

  • to cut costs;
  • to free the in-house team to focus on core business objectives.

These are the main advantages though. No need to pay high salaries or equip the workers. You can bring in the outsourcing developer, writer, designer, etc. with a specific skill set to take a certain task only.

That gives time for your full-time staff to complete and focus on core business functions. Outsourcing gives you access to the huge talent pool. Not only can you hire specialists all over the globe, but also the rates of overseas professionals can be lower.

The biggest cons of outsourcing IT teams is the poor quality of work and management issues. It can be a challenge to find a freelancer to meet the expectations and to accomplish the task in time.

Bottom line

Today the economic situation makes businesses more flexible and search for new approaches to stay afloat and competitive. Facing the choice between the in-house and outsourced team, it’s evident that there is no one-size-fits-all solution to this dilemma. When dealing with the right in-house IT team, the time, patience, and diligence is required. Also, you should clearly understand what skills are necessary for the business to be successful in the long term. In its turn, outsourcing can be a more cost-effective and immediate solution. However, as evidenced in practice, the best way is to combine these two approaches. Take the most important roles in-house, delegating some tasks like guest writing, graphic design, problem troubleshooting, etc. on-call to make workflows more efficient without additional expenses added.

About the Author

StrategyDriven Expert Contributor | Alexey KutsenkoAlexey Kutsenko is CMO at DDI Development company, that provides custom web & development services to worldwide clients. Alexey has a vast experience in building marketing strategies for various clients, defining the client’s needs, and leading digital marketing strategies in the company.