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Do Long Island Physicians Need Managed Services to Be Essential?

2020 has been a challenging year for many industries and the healthcare industry is no exception. While many health professionals saw a significant influx of patients from COVID-19, others in healthcare suffered from a lack of patients due to government-mandated lock downs. Although many industries are back on the road to recovery, they are still looking for ways to manage costs in order to prepare for a future that remains a bit uncertain. Today we’re discussing if Long Island physicians need Managed Services and what they provide.

Challenging Times

Even before the pandemic occurred, 59% of healthcare CIOs were reporting increased operating pressures, with 41% reporting funding shortfalls. With the advent of the pandemic, many healthcare budgets experienced dramatic reductions, even as new technologies were needed in order to meet the demands of increased social distancing and higher levels of sanitization within physical spaces.

It should come as no surprise then that every aspect of healthcare, including supporting technologies, have come under budgetary scrutiny. Smaller and recently merged healthcare systems are now looking for ways to continue to have access to all the latest technologies, even while facing significant budgetary pressures.

Managing Costs with Managed Services

One of the ways in which smaller healthcare settings can reduce costs is by partnering with a managed service provider for their technology needs. One of the great aspects of managed services is that they can easily be scaled up or down as demand requires. This means physicians and smaller clinics only need to pay for services they truly need. If the time comes where they have a need for increased services, they can easily obtain only those additional services they require, without getting locked into a long-term commitment.

Insightful Service

While those in the healthcare industry do need to find ways to cut costs, they must still maintain a high level of service to their patient, as well as adhere to industry standards and HIPAA-compliant protocols. By partnering with a managed service provider, physicians and those in smaller healthcare settings can ensure that all of their supportive technology is properly assessed and monitored to meet compliance standards.

Security

Since the advent of the pandemic, multiple technology sites noted a dramatic increase in data breaches and other security issues. Beginning in early 2020, data hackers and thieves decided it would be a good time to take advantage of the increased chaos and uncertainty, and significantly ramped up their exploitative efforts. Now more than ever, it’s vital for even smaller clinics and independent physicians to ensure their technology hardware and software tools can withstand increased cyber attacks.

By partnering with a MSP, even healthcare professionals who do not have access to the technology centers found in larger hospitals, can have premiere security protection. A reliable technology service provider makes it their business to stay abreast of current security challenges in order to ensure their clients remain fully protected from both external and internal data threats.

Looking to Learn More?

If you are a physician or small health clinic in the Long Island area who is looking for a comprehensive 24/7/365 solution for your technology needs, including mobile initiatives, collaboration tools, security protection, remote solutions, and more, we can help. Please contact us today.

What Is HIPAA Compliance? If You Have A Business, You Should Know

What is HIPAA compliance? Having a thorough understanding of HIPAA compliance is imperative for any IT professional working in the healthcare sector. This factor is especially important as technology evolves, and more affected organizations utilize innovative tools like mobile devices and Health Information Exchanges.

But what is HIPAA compliance?

As this article explains, HIPAA, the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, sets the standard for protecting sensitive patient data. A comprehensive IT plan for HIPAA compliance must include, training, review, and safeguards.

TRAINING:

For training to be effective, it must be current and thorough. Members of the medical and administrative staff need regular and comprehensive training to lessen the practice’s risk of exposure to data leaks and potential financially crippling HIPAA violation penalties.

REVIEWING:

As technology and regulation evolve, it is important to incorporate regular reviews of policy and procedure as it pertains to patient information and how that information is shared and stored.

SAFEGUARDING:

There are three basic areas to consider when developing safeguards; physical, administrative and technological.

1. Physical

Organizations covered by HIPAA must have physical measures in place to protect both traditional and digital data from unauthorized intrusion. These actions may include having a patient’s charts placed in areas where only authorized personnel have access, securing laptops with passwords and keeping them in safe locations and putting security cameras in those locations. Policy and procedure training must include instruction for proper use.

2. Administrative

Security controls have to be evaluated regularly from a risk management standpoint in the following administrative areas of your medical office:

Assignment of responsibilities
Workforce security
Awareness and training
Incident reporting protocols and periodic analysis
Contingency planning
Emergency data recovery planning
Vendor access and control – confidentiality contracts

3. Technological

IT is the fastest evolving area of a practice today. Tech areas that need to be kept in compliance with HIPPA regulations are:

Data encryption
Data storage options
Data disaster planning
Data recovery planning
Email filtering
Web filtering
Digital data sharing
Risk analysis

Consequences of non-compliance

So now you know the answer to the question, “What is HIPAA compliance?”. Having a thorough understanding of the complicated requirements for HIPAA compliance also means that the penalties for violations are also understood. HIPAA violations and resulting lawsuits are soaring. The dollar amount of awards and settlements for HIPAA ITsecurity violations is currently at $20.3 million, (for the first eight months of 2016) that is an increase of 32% from 2105.

To discover how AE Technology Group’s HIPAA Consulting can benefit your business contact us today.

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Managed IT Services – Just What are They Anyway?

If you are running your own small to medium business, you have already run into plenty of IT problems. But if finding a solution to your IT problems feels like you are constantly putting out fires, it is time to consider managed IT services.

What are Managed IT Services?

The answer is simple. Think about it like going to the dentist. You could just go to the dentist whenever you have tooth pain. You only get your dental work done on a need-to-need basis. When you go in, you may find you just need to get a cavity filled or you may need a root canal. Yuck! What if that root canal could have been prevented by preventative dental care?

That’s the Idea Behind Managed IT Services

Managed IT services are like going to the dentist for cleanings even when you don’t have a problem. Getting regular X-rays of your teeth may prevent you from reaching the point of needing a root canal or another nasty procedure. Your dentist might be able to catch the problem sooner.

At AE Technology Group, our managed IT services provide preventative IT support for Long Island and NYC businesses. We offer 24/7 oversight and management of your systems. Preventative maintenance on your networks and servers can prevent bigger problems down the road. And of course if you do have an IT problem, we are ready to help. The great thing is we offer one monthly rate for all of these services and no surprise fees when you have an issue that needs extra attention.

Stop paying for IT support from problem to problem and start using managed IT services from AE Technology Group.

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