What Healthcare Businesses Should Consider when Hiring an IT Partner
The healthcare and social assistance industry is currently the largest industry in Tampa Bay. New hospitals and doctors’ offices are popping up and expanding all around the region. As it is for any organization, it’s important to choose the right technology partner for your healthcare business in Tampa.
5 Ways to Choose the Right Technology Partner for Your Healthcare Business in Tampa
Here are five tips that will help you find the best Managed Service Provider (MSP) for your healthcare practice.
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Track Record in the Healthcare Industry
To choose the right technology partner for your healthcare business in Tampa Bay, look for MSPs with experience in your industry. MSPs with a track record in healthcare will be more knowledgeable about the industry’s unique security requirements. This includes IT-related HIPAA regulations and other special IT needs. Practices just starting out may not be familiar with IT best practices specific to healthcare environments. In these cases, an experienced IT partner is particularly valuable.
The Atlas senior engineering group has a breadth of expertise and years of experience in the healthcare industry.
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Consultative Approach
Instead of working with an MSP that simply follows your IT checklist, hire a partner that will provide education and recommendations to protect your patients and practice. Seek an MSP that is not afraid to ask questions and will take a holistic approach to making sure your IT systems work well and would stand the test of an audit.
Our team often works with doctors opening a new practice. We ask a lot of questions that frequently bring up security issues that the doctors or office staff hadn’t even considered.
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Secured Systems
To choose the right technology partner for your healthcare business in Tampa Bay, seek MSPs that can offer secured systems. A few common best practices include controlling users and remote access, setting up visual screen protection and implementing good password policies.
We work closely with our healthcare providers’ security officers and office managers to receive information about changing security regulations. We use that guidance to provide secured IT protection in our clients’ environments.
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Personnel Training
Even the most secure IT systems can fail if its users don’t follow proper protocol. In addition to having the right technology and security infrastructure in place, it’s imperative that healthcare providers train personnel on best practices.
Our team works with our clients to educate and train employees on how to protect patient data and the practice. This includes setting good passwords and encrypting hard drives. It also includes not walking away from a common-area computer while it’s displaying protected patient information.
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Able to Adjust with Your Practice
To choose the right technology partner for your healthcare business in Tampa Bay, look for an MSP that can adjust to changes in your practice. If you’re a small practice aiming to grow, find an IT partner that can adjust its services according to your needs.
For example, we started working with a particular healthcare startup early on. We worked with their Vice President of IT in supporting and maintaining their full security infrastructure. The company grew over time and eventually brought on an in-house IT staff. But, we stayed on to manage their help desk. Our co-managed services enable us to provide our clients with just what they need and no more.
