Why Your Medical Office Needs Specialized IT Services for Healthcare

healthcare IT services

Medical labs and offices, hospitals, and a myriad of other healthcare organizations all depend on high-quality IT services to perform essential, daily tasks. Because of the importance of IT in the medical field, it’s vital that you not only receive high-quality IT support and services, but receive specialized IT services for healthcare organizations.

To enable you to continue providing the best in life-saving healthcare, your IT service provider will need to understand the challenges you face. Although general IT providers can keep your internet running, there’s much more that goes into providing quality IT services for medical offices.

Here’s why every medical organization needs IT support from a provider specializing in healthcare IT. 

What Are Specialized IT Services for Healthcare?

Specialized IT services for healthcare not only ensure the continual smooth running of your IT infrastructure, but they also address the unique trials that the medical sector faces. 

There are many processes and software tools that are unique to healthcare providers. They provide essential care, and your average IT provider likely won’t have the knowledge needed to keep them running correctly.

An IT provider specializing in healthcare will have the experience and expertise to care for your day-to-day technology needs, care for specialized equipment, provide the compliance and cybersecurity services necessary for your industry and business, and have an understanding of your industry enabling them to help you plan for your long-term IT strategy.

Why Does your Medical Organization Need Specialized Healthcare IT Services?

Here are just a few of the ways specialized IT knowledge will set your medical office apart:

HIPAA Compliance

HIPAA, the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996, is a federal regulation that requires any organization dealing with personal health information (PHI) to be compliant with strict cybersecurity standards and procedures for handling this confidential information. Failing to comply with HIPAA can result in fines, legal penalties, and other negative consequences.

Working with an IT provider that’s experienced with HIPPA’s specific requirements will help you achieve and maintain full compliance faster and easier. A healthcare-focused IT company can also help you complete a HIPAA compliance assessment to examine your current processes and determine what steps to start with to become compliant.

Life-Saving Technology

Your medical organization relies on technology and digital processes that are essential to your patients’ health and quality care. If these processes are interrupted by technology going offline, it can cause far-reaching consequences.

Downtime for medical offices can delay test results, limit the number of patients you’re able to care for, and slow many time-sensitive processes. A specialized healthcare IT provider can anticipate your needs, take preventative action to minimize downtime, prioritize essential processes and technology, and help you resume normal functions as soon as possible in the face of emergencies.

Security Against Increasing Cyber Threats

Healthcare organizations are the number one target for ransomware attacks due to the valuable and sensitive patient information they store. The US Department of Health and Human Services data reports that the number of ransomware attacks on healthcare providers rose from 35 in 2018 to 193 in 2019. And at the midpoint in 2020, that figure was already at 144, as COVID-19 gave hackers extra opportunity to take advantage of systems already running thin.

Even when you’re fully HIPAA compliant, additional cybersecurity measures are often needed to ensure protection from cyber attacks. With ransomware attacks on the rise and the uncertainty of COVID-19, organizations are under threat of further data exploitation, and medical businesses need IT support that’s equipped to protect them from these risks.

The Benefits of Specialized IT Services for Healthcare

When you have IT services provided by professionals who work specifically with medical organizations, they’ll have in-depth knowledge and experience of specialized medical software and processes.

That means that you can receive help with EHR/EMR handling and processes, support for medical interface problems, and even specialized software providing automated daily accession counts for organizations like medical labs to increase efficiency.

The increased level of knowledge that specialized healthcare IT services provide can also help you with big-picture, long-term IT strategy. Utilizing the most efficient technology that perfectly suits your needs can help you improve efficiency and your quality of care while also reducing costs. When you’re looking to scale, there’s no one better to help you than an IT professional with specific experience in your industry.

Specialized IT services give your organization the security of knowing that your life-saving processes won’t be interrupted and that your medical office will remain legally compliant. Coronainfo can provide those dedicated IT services for your medical office. As your healthcare IT pros, and with our nearly two decades of experience helping small to medium medical businesses, we provide expert knowledge, experience, and comprehensive security to your company.