Most doctors are familiar with electronic health record (EHR) technology. The use of computers to store patient and clinical data is becoming more popular, as it provides benefits to both patients and physicians alike. However, the challenges in storing digital information are very different than those in a “pen and paper” world. If the information is stored centrally in an EHR system, then just one small breach can lead to a massive data leak. By partnering with a trusted healthcare managed services provider, you can be sure that your patient data is kept safe and private.
Compliance in the healthcare world refers to adhering to an external set of requirements. These guidelines are put in place to ensure that physicians commit themselves to meeting ethical and legal patient care standards. Many of these guidelines, such as HIPAA and PCI, are put in place to protect sensitive patient information. By adopting national standards for the electronic transfer of patient details, health providers are demonstrating a commitment to maintaining their patient’s trust and safety.
However, it can be difficult to stay on top of the specific legal demands when you’re involved primarily in medical care. Using a managed service provider can take some of the burdens off your shoulders since they can handle the technological and privacy obligations themselves. At ETech 7, not only have we worked with many healthcare professionals in keeping their network compliant, but we make sure to stay on top of any changes in healthcare systems regulations.
Patients are increasingly turning to the internet before deciding about which doctor to choose. There are plenty of sites that will point them to the right physician for their needs, but what happens when they reach your site? If they have to call to make an appointment, or they can’t find your website at all, they might be discouraged from contacting you. Online scheduling is becoming a more common service for physician’s offices, and it can reduce your need to have someone waiting for the phone to field patient calls. Patients also want to be able to access their information remotely outside of office hours, and they can usually do so if their healthcare provider offers an online portal for patients. But what if your online scheduler is down, or patients can’t access their lab results? This is why it’s essential to have a dedicated IT provider, even if you have a minimal online presence. The smallest inconvenience for your patients can mean a larger problem for your business. At ETech 7, we ensure a nearly constant online presence through our ability to handle large server requests and seamless virtual integration.
Like any business, there are certain operational costs involved in running a medical practice. Some can’t be avoided, like rent or your electric bill, but what about expenses like software licenses or server storage? It can be tempting to try and manage all your office’s technological needs yourself, but when you’re running a busy medical practice, good IT planning can fall by the wayside. By outsourcing your IT to a healthcare managed service provider, you can have the IT support and networking capabilities of a larger company, without paying the same fees. At ETech 7, we make sure our clients have the lowest overhead possible while maintaining a strong technological foundation.
One of the most common issues that medical practices face is one of scale. When you’re looking to expand your patient base, the IT practices that you had in place might not be applicable to a larger network. Furthermore, if two medical practices are thinking about merging, their disparate software and information storage systems can make data consolidation a headache. At ETech 7, our experience with different medical providers let us see the big picture, and know how to best scale your practice for your needs.
Another dilemma that healthcare providers may confront is how to integrate their network. Many physicians rely on EMR, advanced imaging systems, and virtual desktops to create and maintain a patient profile. If these systems are set up individually, then they may have a hard time communicating effectively with each other. At ETech 7, we have specific protocols in place when setting up a medical practice to ensure that your network is standardized across the board. This way, you won’t run into any problems should you choose to integrate additional hardware or software into your practice.
When patient health is on the line, the last thing you want to consider is a situation where you can’t access your patient information. Regrettably, many healthcare providers don’t make contingency plans for predicaments such as data loss, power outages, or extreme weather conditions. ETech 7’s technicians rigorously test the systems we put in place to guarantee limited downtime for your practice. We also backup and encrypt your data in geographically redundant servers so that even in the worst-case scenario, your information is still accessible to keep your practice running.
“ETech 7 is outstanding among IT consulting firms because they bring a wealth of knowledge and maturity, a demonstrated work ethic and strong leadership skills to their work … they also carry a rare form of loyalty that I’ve seldom seen.”
“We've hired ETech 7 to setup our backup solution and found them to be a great asset. They hit the ground running quickly, work well with the team and gets results. The ETech 7 support team is just a phone call away and they treat our team-members with respect.”
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