Stress Awareness Month: Reduce Clinic Staff’s Stress with Managed IT Services

It's no secret that the healthcare industry is one of the most stressful sectors out there. To make matters worse, medical practices are often understaffed, which only adds to the stress.

Knowing this, it's no surprise that medical practice owners are looking for ways to reduce the stress in their lives and the lives of their staff. One of the biggest causes of stress for medical practices and their staff is their IT. 

You have worked hard to get where you are, and now you are working hard to keep things running smoothly. Keeping up with technology is a necessary part of business, but it can quickly take over your life if you don’t have the right IT team in place. 

It can be tough to do it all and keep up with your goals, budget, and employees. Maybe it’s time to outsource it to professionals who have the time, the technical expertise, and the resources to keep up with all the advances in technology and make sure that your entire infrastructure is compatible with it.

What is a Managed Service Provider (MSP)?

If you’re not familiar with managed service providers (MSPs), they’re companies that offer IT services to businesses.

An MSP doesn’t sell software or hardware on their own, but rather provides a range of IT services and support to their clients. For example, an MSP may be able to provide end-to-end managed infrastructure at a lower cost than if you purchased all the components yourself. 

They might also help with purchasing and integrating new technology like cloud services.

How to Reduce Clinic Staff’s Stress with IT Outsourcing

Believe it or not, there are companies that are in the business of reducing stress for their clients. Perhaps this shouldn’t come as a surprise when you consider how much of a strain a bad tech experience can be. 

With so many responsibilities in life and at work, a little relief is much needed. There are several ways to reduce your practice-related stress,  but here’s a list of how an MSP can help:

Delegate IT Tasks to a Team of Reputable Professionals

If you're like most clinic owners, you're busy. You have a practice to run, a team to manage, and an entire office to oversee—and these can be overwhelming!

Fortunately, outsourcing technology tasks to an MSP can help you reduce stress, increase your productivity, and allow you to focus on what's most important for your medical practice.

An MSP can take care of all or some of your IT needs. Here are some of the major IT services a reputable MSP can give your office:

• 24/7 helpdesk + monitoring and support
• Managing and securing your data in the cloud
• Streamlining communications with a cloud phone system
• Providing round-the-clock cybersecurity to prevent breaches
• Simplify compliance solutions to keep up with HIPAA requirements

Save Money With Predictable Costs

There is no denying how stressful budgeting can be, especially if it involves overseeing your clinic, managing your workforce, and maintaining your technology.

Avoid letting IT consume your practice's limited budget. MSPs can reduce your expenses by providing predictable costs compared to break-fix IT services. They offer a range of affordable plans and services tailored to your needs.

Scale Fast to Keep Up With Demand

Isn't it stressful to imagine how your entire infrastructure might collapse if your IT team can't keep up with the demands? And what if you can't keep up with your competitors who are growing fast and staying ahead of the curve? 

With all the rapid changes both in the IT and healthcare industries, it can be difficult to keep up with the latest developments and ensure that your patients’ needs are always satisfied. 

With an MSP, you can rely on their expertise to keep your clinic’s IT in shape.

Scaling and modernizing IT infrastructure can be time-consuming and costly. If you need a partner who can help you scale efficiently, reach out to an MSP that will take this burden off your shoulders.

Improve Communication and Transparency Between You and IT Staff

Whether you're a small family practice or a large multi-specialty medical center, there are lots of moving parts in the world of healthcare. 

Physicians and medical staff rely on technology to make sure your patients are getting the care they need, and to make sure your practice is running smoothly. But how do you know you're getting the best possible care from your IT provider? 

One of the main problems medical practice owners face is a lack of communication with their IT staff. Most of the time, the medical practice owners will be looking for an update on the progress of any IT issue or the progress of the various projects their IT department is working on. 

Unfortunately, this lack of communication leads to stress and frustration. This is where managed IT services come in. A good MSP is always accessible to you at all times. They can also provide you with accurate and timely information about the condition of your IT system.

Additionally, many MSPs use IT service management tools to ensure transparency. It gives practice owners the ability to keep track of their computers, networks, and data in real time.

Improve Communication Between Clinic Staff and Patients

Every business needs to be able to communicate effectively with its clients. This is especially true for medical practices that need to communicate with patients.

However, traditional methods of communication can be too slow or unreliable. That’s why many medical practices are turning to managed IT services to enhance their communication and improve their patient care.

An MSP can improve communication by managing cloud phone systems, email, telemedicine, and other communication tools. 

MSPs also offer a centralized IT management platform for secure access to patient information that’s easily accessible by authorized users. They can also provide patient portal solutions to allow patients to access their information online.

Free Up Your Time to Focus On More Important Things

IT administration is a serious and often complicated process. The work is never done. Managing all these IT tasks requires hours and hours of dedicated time, and that's just not realistic for many doctors already overwhelmed with their workloads.

Rather than dealing with these problems yourself, why not let a company that specializes in them handle them for you? An MSP can take care of the day-to-day headaches so you can focus on what matters most, such as taking care of your patients and growing your practice.

Your IT Assets Are Optimized and Always Available

Your medical practice is growing, and it's important to keep up with the pace. You want your IT systems to be able to handle more users, more cases, and more traffic. 

An unreliable IT team can be a major headache. It seems like they’re constantly researching something new, trying out new technology, or updating software that's not compatible with your current infrastructure. 

When you choose an MSP tailored for your unique needs, you'll have peace of mind knowing that your IT systems are optimized on a regular basis and that you have access to highly trained professionals who are familiar with all aspects of healthcare IT.

You’ll never have to worry about hardware or software that's not compatible with the current infrastructure, as well as any downtime issues, virus threats, or other IT-related concerns.

24/7 Protection Against Threats and Vulnerabilities

Medical practices are susceptible to security risks, whether they're caused by human error or technological malfunction. Unfortunately, many clinic owners and managers don't realize the security threats because these are rarely detected. 

From ransomware to DDoS attacks, an MSP can provide your practice with 24/7 protection against threats and vulnerabilities that could leave you stressed out in the middle of the night.

Reduce Stress and Enjoy Peace of Mind with ER Tech Pros

Managing a medical practice is hard. A lot of things are at stake, and there are a lot of things that can go wrong. At the end of the day, you have to make sure that everything is working properly and that your patients are being taken care of.

Many clinicians are under pressure to do more with less and without compromising quality. In healthcare, this means that better technology is the key to making care more efficient. Bringing managed IT services into your business can improve communication, increase productivity, and allow for faster responses for your patients.

ER Tech Pros is a healthcare-focused MSP dedicated to keeping your practice’s IT running at peak performance, so you can focus on your core practice. If you are unhappy with your current IT provider, give us a call to see how we can help.