Healthcare-specific Managed Service Providers (MSPs) provide peace of mind to practices. This peace comes two-fold, first, by knowing that their Electronic Patient Health Information (ePHI) is kept safe by knowledgeable IT experts. Second, by reassuring them that their systems remain HIPAA compliant and that if anything were to happen, their MSP would be there to help them. MSPs can deliver technical expertise to practices at a lower cost than hiring IT staff, as well as ensure that critical data is kept safe and secure.
If compliance, data security, and quality of care are priorities for your practice, then it is an absolute necessity for you to ensure your IT partner doesn't just dabble in healthcare BUT is a leader in their market.
Medical practices are responsible and liable for the security and protection of patient information. Not having an IT company that focuses on the compliance requirements of healthcare practices can add unnecessary risk to your organization.
Healthcare-focused IT providers offer a wide range of services and solutions to help medical practices keep their businesses running efficiently.
Four Ways an MSP Can Better Protect Your Practice:
1. Encryption
Securing data has become an absolute must in basic security within healthcare practices. Computer encryption is easy, cheap, and a staple today in the healthcare industry.
Additionally, with more and more practices depending on email communication, it is more important than ever to keep your email safe and secure. Email encryption protects your message data from when it leaves your computer to the time of its retrieval.
2. Backups of Sensitive Data
You have worked too hard to put your practice at risk by not having a backup and recovery solution in place. Backup and business continuity solutions ensure that in the event of hardware failure or other disasters that renders systems unusable, your network and your employees can be back to work in short order.
Backup solutions securely encrypt your data, back it up at an off‑site facility, and guarantees that it is safe and readily available for restoration at any time.
"Even with all our technology and the inventions that make modern life so much easier than it once was, it takes just one big natural disaster to wipe all that away and remind us that, here on Earth, we are still at the mercy of nature."
- Neil deGrasse Tyson
3. HIPAA Compliance
As a medical practice, HIPAA compliance should be a top priority. Your MSP plays an active role in ensuring they meet HIPAA security compliance.
An experienced IT company remains up to date on HIPAA compliance changes, can help train your staff on these regulations, can help medical practices follow HIPAA best practices, and ensure that data is always correctly handled and secure.
Want to know if your practice is currently meeting HIPAA guidelines? Schedule your Free Network Assessment to find out!
4. Consistent Security Monitoring
IT companies manage their clients' needs 24/7, which means they handle all updates, and systems patching and maintain the overall health of your network to keep your practice running at optimal speed and efficiency.
If you suddenly experience an internet outage or a system failure, your IT company is only a call away. Security-focused IT companies can take this further by providing 24x7x365 security monitoring and reporting.
If you still don't know where to start, reach out to us here, and we will be happy to guide you through the process. Here at Medicus IT, we strive to help you so that you can do what you do best -- take care of patients.
