Is Managed IT Best for Bigger or Smaller Hospitals?

IT service in the healthcare industry is growing quickly. Smaller hospitals often can’t keep in-house IT experts due to budget limitations. Larger hospitals may have an IT team, but they are often overworked. This has made managed IT support for healthcare essential in recent years.

Still, questions remain. Is managed IT the right option for every hospital? Which types of hospitals benefit the most? In this blog, we will explore the key IT challenges hospitals face and how managed IT service providers can help address them.

What Is Managed IT in a Healthcare Setting?

A Managed IT Service Provider (MSP) is a third-party partner that handles a company’s IT needs. Their service can include providing day-to-day support to full system management.

Managed IT in healthcare means using a trusted IT management service that specializes in hospital IT solutions. IT services in healthcare ensure that the patient’s data at a hospital are secure and their IT system is running smoothly. The hospitals can deliver better patient care with an external IT service provider.

Managed IT support in healthcare usually includes the following services:

Network Monitoring and Management 

It helps to keep the networks of a hospital or clinic secured from potential attacks. IT solutions for healthcare providers monitor the network connectivity and activities. They identify the weakness in the system and take early action. 

EHR/EHR Integration

Support EHR support makes patient records easy to access and share across departments. Hospital IT systems ensure that patients' health data can be accessed securely. They provide support for integrating different EHR platforms. So that doctors and healthcare workers can give full attention to patients.

24/7 Help Desk

Third-party IT services for hospitals usually include a 24/7 help desk. Staff and healthcare workers of the hospital can get quick support from this desk. The IT experts from the managed IT service provider serve several clients at once. It allows them to deliver IT support at a low cost. 

HIPAA-Compliant Cybersecurity

Protecting the privacy of patients’ information is essential in the healthcare industry. Hospital IT solutions provide strong security to protect the private information of patients. 

Device Lifecycle Management

Hospitals depend on many devices to deliver care every day. Hospital IT solutions handle the full lifecycle of these devices. They deploy new equipment, keep it updated, and replace old hardware on time. The incidents of equipment failure become less common. This approach reduces downtime by preventing costly interruptions.

Backup, Disaster Recovery, and More

In healthcare, it is necessary to keep a data backup. IT service providers keep a copy of important files and information as backup. They establish recovery plans to restore data. It prevents data loss caused by technical failure or cyber attacks.

Challenges Faced by Larger Hospitals

The IT system of a large hospital can be more complex to manage with internal staff. They often have multiple databases, software, and website channels. So a large hospital has an increased chance of cyberattack and data breaches. 

A co-managed model helps them to share their IT responsibilities and establish strong cybersecurity system. 

Why Managed IT Works for Larger Hospitals

Hospitals can balance their IT management tasks effectively with the right partner. Some of the major benefits of managed IT in healthcare are the following:

24/7 Proactive Security Monitoring

Large hospitals can store a massive amount of patient data. Some of the information in that data can be very sensitive. Healthcare IT service providers can have serious damage to their reputation if their data is breached. So they need continuous support from IT experts to keep their data and network secure.

Scalable Hybrid Models (Co-Managed IT)

Hiring a large IT team is costly for hospitals. Even well-funded healthcare organizations can struggle to run their IT fully in-house. A third-party provider can reduce these costs by managing IT operations. External IT support also offers scalable packages. These packages adjust to the needs of each hospital.

Specialized Compliance Support

There are several data protection frameworks that apply to the healthcare industry, such as SOC 2, HITRUST, and NIST. A hospital can face serious legal consequences for failing to comply with these frameworks. IT services for healthcare have strong knowledge about these frameworks. 

Infrastructure Design and Modernization at Scale

IT systems often need to be updated regularly to handle the latest security threats. The internal IT team requires training to stay up-to-date with these changes. With a co-managed model, hospitals can avoid high training costs. They can also reduce the need to purchase new hardware and systems by working with a managed IT provider.

Pros and Cons of Managed IT for Hospitals

Real-World Scenarios of Managed IT Services in Healthcare

Healthcare managed IT services can significantly contribute to hospital operations and patient safety. Here are two real-world case studies of managed IT services for a small and a large hospital:

Small Hospital Example: Caring Medical Clinics

Caring Medical Regenerative Medicine Clinics, located in Illinois and Florida, was having some frequent IT issues with their previous IT provider. The challenges they were facing included computer downtime and an unreliable email system. 

So they decided to partner with a new managed IT company. They noticed the following changes:

• The managed IT solution provided proactive network support and on-site hardware repairs.
• Resolved longstanding system freezes and email issues.
• Enabled smooth IT support for two clinic locations, supporting expansion plans.
• Improved uptime and IT responsiveness helped the practice focus more on patient care.

Experience with HIPAA, HITECH, and HITRUST

Your MSP must deeply understand healthcare regulations and ensure full compliance. They should have proven expertise in protecting patient data and supporting audits. So it is important to partner with an IT solution with certifications like HITRUST, CSF, or SOC 2. This ensures your sensitive healthcare information stays secure and compliant.

Scalable Infrastructure Planning

IT needs of healthcare providers can grow over time. You need to select an MSP with flexible IT services or packages. They should have a scalable plan to support your long-term plan. So that you can run your IT operation without disruption when the patient volume increases. 

24/7 Support with Healthcare-Specific SLAs

IT issues can happen even outside business hours. A good MSP should offer 24/7 support with service-level agreements (SLAs) customized to healthcare. It will guarantee that you will get quick response from your provider whenever you face a technical issue. 

Ability to Integrate with EHRs, Imaging, and Telehealth Platforms

Management of IT systems can be complex, and they often need multiple platform integrations. So a reliable MSP should have proven experience in integrating popular platforms like Epic Cerner, as well as imaging systems (PACS) and telehealth tools.

Cybersecurity-First Approach

A managed IT service should treat cybersecurity as a core strategy, not just an add-on service. Look for an IT provider that offers services like managed detection and response (MDR), real-time threat monitoring, endpoint protection, and strong incident response plans. Your MSP should also be able to align with frameworks like NIST or HITRUST to manage cybersecurity risks effectively.

Conclusion

The choice of using a managed IT model often depends on the size of the hospital. A full-service MSP can deliver better results for smaller hospitals by handling all IT needs. Larger hospitals, on the other hand, may benefit more from a co-managed model. They need to share responsibilities between their internal IT team and a third-party provider.

Regardless of the size of the hospital, managed IT can bring significant advantages to any hospital’s operations. A trusted MSP can provide stronger security, reliable support, and a more stable IT environment across the healthcare industry.