This project was carried out to increase reliability, performance, and efficiency of Ruswin’s infrastructure. This customer also migrated to a cloud-based system, which allows for accessibility of data and information across all of their sites.
This project was completed over two weekends, outside of the business’s work hours, so they were ready to begin the working week without interruption.
No investor likes money pits. Business owners do everything to avoid them.
So why are some businesses still relying on the break-fix method of resolving IT issues when it is, in fact, a money pit?
In this article, we explain why that is no longer the preferred IT solution and show how managed IT services is now the way to go.
Break-fix IT is an IT management approach where IT problems get attention only when they happen – when it breaks, the IT guy is called to fix it.
It’s like waiting for your car to break down before you do anything about it – a reactive way of solving problems.
Break-fix may have been a practical IT solution in the past, but not in today’s digital age where businesses rely on technology for everything. Some of the reasons why break-fix is no longer a suitable solution for today’s businesses are:
The break-fix solution is therefore a money pit that costs much more than if you had a managed IT service provider (MSP). Why is managed IT the better way?
Managed IT services is where a provider has a team of IT experts who manage a business’ IT system. This method can include:
You could think of it as a car maintenance plan, where you bring in your vehicle for regular checks so the mechanics can catch any potential problem before it becomes worse and, possibly, cause damage or injury.
The old adage “prevention is better than a cure” still holds true. Managed IT is a preventative approach that can give you:
If you agree that managed IT is the better alternative over break-fix, the next question would be, “So how can I find a managed IT service provider that’s right for my business?” Here are a few helpful tips:
Before you start contacting IT solutions providers, take some time to research different providers in your area. See what they offer, read reviews, compare prices, and get quotes from a few different providers.
Do you need help with network security, cloud computing, or something else? Do you need someone who has already worked in your industry? Once you know what you need, start to narrow down your choices.
It would be good to meet in person with the people behind each provider. This is your chance to ask questions and get a feel of their company culture. This is important because you need to be able to trust the people who will be taking care of your IT.
When meeting with the MSPs, be sure to ask the right questions. Here are a few examples:
Managed IT is the proactive approach most suited to today’s businesses. It also costs less than break-fix in the long run. Better still, having an MSP taking care of your IT can allow you to work with less worries and sleep better at night.
If you’d like to learn more, talk to the team at ADITS, we are a leading Managed IT Services provider in Brisbane and Townsville, and support businesses across Queensland. Take advantage of a free consultation and get in touch today.
BOOK CONSULTATION NOWIn 2020, Northside Clinic was ordered by the Privacy Commissioner to pay $16,400 in damages to two patients after sending their information to the wrong email address. It was a simple mistake – but a costly one.
The clinic breached the Australian Privacy Principles (APPs), specifically APP 6, which details information disclosure provisions, and APP 11, requiring entities to take reasonable steps to protect personal information they hold.
(By the way, did you know that there’s one simple solution that could have helped Northside if they used it? Read it towards the end of the article.)
What are the APPs that Northside violated anyway? They are the 13 privacy principles that stand as “the cornerstone of the privacy protection framework in the Privacy Act 1988.” They specify the standards, rights, and obligations around personal information when collected, used, and disclosed by any entity. Violations can lead to regulatory action and penalties that can reach $10 million.
Are you sure your medical practice follows the entire Privacy Act 1988 (Cth)? Are you knowledgeable about all the APPs?
Who do you consult about privacy laws and how do you ensure your compliance?
Test yourself: Go through some of the salient points of our privacy laws below. If you know and comply with each, tick it off:
They are surely not exhaustive, but pretty much cover the gist of data privacy policies. So, how many of them do you know and follow?
Does your medical practice have all your bases covered? One of the ways you can ensure compliance is by having IT services provider to help you.
IT services can enhance your compliance efforts while strengthening your data security. Below we list seven ways they can do help you:
With IT services, it can be easier for you to comply with privacy and data protection measures such as the Australian Privacy Act and the My Health Records Act. They can help you implement secure storage solutions, access controls, encryption, and regular audits to protect patient information.
An IT services provider might help your medical practice to integrate with the Australian National Health Identifiers Service (HI Service), ensuring accurate patient identification and compliance with the Healthcare Identifiers Act. This enables seamless sharing of health information across different healthcare providers.
To ensure compliance with relevant regulations, IT services can help you set up and manage electronic health record (EHR) systems. This includes secure access, proper data handling, and integration with other clinical systems.
IT services can supply tools and systems that support accurate clinical coding and documentation practices. This will allow you to comply with the Australian Coding Standards and improve the quality and integrity of medical records.
Telehealth and telemedicine solutions that comply with the guidelines set by the Australian Digital Health Agency could be another benefit of having IT services. Those could include secure video conferencing platforms, remote patient monitoring, and data privacy considerations.
You may be able to more easily adopt secure messaging platforms that comply with the Secure Messaging Industry Offer (SMIO) framework. This ensures secure communication and interoperability between healthcare providers while protecting patient information.
Conducting regular compliance audits and generating reports can be made easier with IT services, helping to ensure adherence to relevant regulations. This includes monitoring your access logs, tracking security incidents, and providing evidence of compliance for regulatory authorities.
If compliance feels like an overwhelming task, there’s a chance that an IT solutions provider can help you. ADITS, for one, has worked with healthcare and medical professionals in past years. To enquire about our IT services, contact our friendly team at 1300 361 984 or request a free consultation now.
(You can also ask us about that one simple solution that could have helped Northside – but the short answer is Microsoft Outlook, which has an email recall feature.)
Having IT services won’t guarantee 100% foolproof compliance, but IT professionals can guide you and alert you to potential issues, helping to reduce risks related to data privacy. By leveraging IT services, organisations in Brisbane, Townsville, and beyond can enhance compliance efforts, strengthen data security, and meet the ever-evolving regulatory demands of the healthcare industry.
“The glory of medicine is that it is constantly moving forward.”
– Dr. William J. Mayo
Healthcare is constantly changing. Medical professionals are always updating their knowledge and skills to provide the best possible care for their patients. They also have an array of tech tools and devices to help them, though some healthcare practices are often burdened with IT-related issues.
Managed IT Service Providers (MSPs) can play a crucial role in how medical practitioners do their work. An MSP’s expertise can help solve problems like:
With comprehensive IT support, cutting-edge solutions, and expert guidance, an IT services provider can empower a healthcare expert to focus on what truly matters: delivering outstanding patient care.
The transformative impact of suitable IT support on healthcare can be summarised in these five ways:
With an IT support team keeping their tech infrastructure running smoothly, doctors, nurses, and medical staff can focus their time and energy on providing high-quality care to patients.
You can have streamlined workflows and optimised patient outcomes with expert IT in the background. They can help you with stuff like managing electronic health records (EHR) and troubleshooting medical devices.
Timely and effective troubleshooting for medical equipment and software is extremely needful. Technical disruptions to immediate care are unwelcome. You need swift resolutions to IT-related issues, especially during critical moments. You would want to minimise slowdowns, maximise patient safety, and seamlessly do your important duties.
In a hospital with a complex interconnection medical devices and software systems, one malfunctioning component or a software vulnerability could easily impact other patient care areas. A tech support team can provide proactive monitoring and regular updates to pre-emptively address potential issues before they escalate.
Data protection is a huge deal in the healthcare field. As cyber criminals get craftier, you must become smarter in protecting your systems from data breaches and ransomware attacks. If things go wrong, your patients’ privacy could be at risk, the practice could lose money, and its reputation could take a hit.
That’s where an IT consultant can be your best friend, ready to help with healthcare cyber security solutions and measures. They’re always clued in on the latest security trends and rules, which means they can help shield your practice from cyber threats.
An IT team can set up firewalls, vigilant intrusion detection systems, and solid endpoint protection, as well as other powerful security tools. They will even teach your team how to stay cyber safe.
On top of that, an MSP can help you follow industry-specific regulations like HIPAA, GDPR, and Australia’s Privacy Act. They can make sure your practice is adequately updated with risk assessments, safeguards, and staff training on data protection.
When your systems and data are in good hands, you can focus on giving your patients the best possible care.
Cloud computing has transformed the way healthcare practices operate. You can save money by eliminating the need for expensive on-premises infrastructure and hardware upgrades. Cloud computing can permit access to powerful IT resources and software on a pay-as-you-go basis, helping you to reduce costs.
Scalability is another key advantage of cloud computing for healthcare providers. As patient demands fluctuate, the cloud can allow you to easily adjust your resources based on your needs. You can utilise this this flexibility when expanding EHR storage or accommodating increased traffic to a telehealth platform.
Storing data in the cloud also ensures secure protection, with advanced encryption and access controls in place. Safeguard patient data from hardware failures, natural disasters, and cyberattacks by doing cloud backups. Backups provide peace of mind and can enable efficient disaster recovery and business continuity measures.
Transitioning to the cloud can seem daunting, but the right IT providers can assist you throughout the process. They can ensure a smooth transition while addressing potential challenges such as data migration, application compatibility, and compliance requirements.
The consequences of an IT disaster for healthcare practices can be a nightmare. You don’t want to lose critical patient data due to a system failure or a malicious cyberattack. It can compromise patient privacy and confidentiality, disrupt your daily operations, and lead to costly downtime.
The impact can blow up further. You could face reputational damage, suffer loss of trust, and get billed with regulatory penalties. It’s a recipe for a major headache – but not if you have an MSP.
A good IT services company will have the expertise in disaster recovery solutions. They can help you develop and implement comprehensive plans to minimise downtime and safeguard critical data. They should work closely with you to assess vulnerabilities, identify potential risks, and design tailored strategies to ensure business continuity.
A dependable IT support team can help you create data backups, implement failover systems, and establish offsite data storage – to help you in case of hardware failures, natural disasters, or cyber threats.
Partnering with an IT solutions provider can give you peace of mind, knowing you are ready for such unfortunate events. Their swift response and recovery measures will ensure you can keep providing quality care without skipping a beat.
Healthcare IT support services are pivotal in identifying inefficiencies. Your IT consultant can bring a fresh perspective and deep industry knowledge to the table and work closely with you to analyse your existing IT systems, processes, and workflows.
By conducting a comprehensive audit, an MSP can identify areas for improvement and develop tailored strategies to streamline operations and maximise efficiency. Typical scenarios could look like this:
An IT consultancy team worked closely with a hospital to optimise their EHR system. By conducting user interviews, observing workflows, and analysing data, the consultants identified bottlenecks and areas where the EHR was not fully utilised. They then proposed customised training programs to enhance staff proficiency and recommended software modifications to improve usability. As a result, the hospital experienced faster documentation, reduced errors, and increased staff satisfaction, ultimately leading to improved patient care.
A healthcare IT consulting services firm partnered with a multi-location clinic to centralise their IT infrastructure. The consultants conducted a thorough assessment of the clinic’s network, hardware, and software systems. They identified redundant and outdated equipment, as well as inconsistent software versions across locations. Based on their findings, the consultants developed a roadmap for standardising the IT environment, implementing cloud-based solutions, and establishing secure remote access. This consolidation and modernisation effort resulted in improved data sharing, enhanced collaboration among healthcare providers, and reduced IT maintenance costs.
Medical practice IT solutions can bring valuable insights and expertise to healthcare organisations. By partnering with IT consultants, healthcare practices can unlock efficiency gains, improve patient care, and stay ahead in today’s technology-driven healthcare landscape.
Healthcare professionals face various tech challenges that can hinder their delivery of quality patient care. An MSP can come to your rescue with business IT solutions that will empower your healthcare practice to thrive – by managing complex IT infrastructures, ensuring data security, and providing proactive support.
Partnering with the right IT solutions provider can revolutionise the way you operate. With experts caring for your IT, you can also focus on caring for their patients.
If you want to find help for your IT needs, talk to a friendly technical specialist today or call 1300 361 984 to enquire. Whether you’re in Brisbane, Townsville, or elsewhere, we’re here to assist!
TALK TO ADITSThis project was carried out to increase reliability, performance and efficiency of Map to Mines infrastructure. As part of the customers roadmap, ADITS provided suitable recommendations for compatibility with upgraded infrastructure from our world-class vendors.
This project was completed over the 2-day weekend, outside of work hours, so they were ready to begin the working week without interruption.
This project was carried out to Intersport’s three sites (Rockhampton, Townsville & Toowoomba). This business was moved to a cloud-based environment which elevates the need for them to have any on-prem server infrastructure. As part of the customers roadmap, ADITS provided suitable recommendations for compatibility with upgraded infrastructure from our world-class vendors.
This project was staged for all 3 sites so the customer had no downtime during working hours.
This project was carried out to all three of Althea Projects’ sites to improve performance and reliability of the network. As part of the customers roadmap, ADITS provided suitable recommendations for compatibility with upgraded infrastructure from our world-class vendors.
This project was completed over the 2-day weekend, outside of the businesses work hours, so they were ready to begin the working week without interruption.
Reliability and Sustainability are taken into consideration when performing any project, big or small. XRX Business Centre recently undertook a major upgrade, replacing their core infrastructure to improve the performance and reliability of their network.
This being a major upgrade, our Projects team performed this over the 3 day long weekend so the company was ready for work Tuesday morning.
This project was carried out to two of CommunityGro’s sites to improve performance and reliability of the network. As part of the customer’s roadmap, ADITS provided suitable recommendations for compatibility with upgraded infrastructure from our world-class vendors.
This project was completed over the 2-day weekend, outside of the businesses work hours, so they were ready to begin the working week without interruption.
This project was carried out to increase reliability, performance and efficiency of Queens Beach Medical Centre’s infrastructure. As part of the customers roadmap, ADITS provided suitable and scalable recommendations for compatibility with upgraded infrastructure from our world-class vendors. This has provided the customer with simplistic cloud manageability which spans across all different device platforms.
The project was completed over the 2-day weekend, outside of the Practice’s work hours, so they were ready to begin the working week without interruption.
Cyber Awareness Training
