Three questions to ask yourself
There are questions you need to ask yourself and your board prior to engaging your providers.
1. What are our current technology needs? Do you have enough servers, computers, printers, scanners, phones, software, networking, etc., to effectively run your operations? How old are they? Are they under warranty? Start by taking an inventory of all of your technology including make, model, serial numbers, service tags and to whom they are assigned. You will also want to track the purchase date and warranty expiration date for all equipment. Try searching online for Belarc Advisor, a free software tool for building a detailed profile of your installed hardware and software on each system.
2. What is our facility’s five-year plan for technology? Where is your facility headed? How often do you plan to upgrade your systems? Is your facility or its needs expanding in the future? You should plan to upgrade or replace your computers and servers every 3-5 years. High-use systems, such as a computer used by the nursing staff every day, might only last 2-3 years.
3. How much IT support do we use currently and is it enough? Rather than look at your IT costs first, start with how much time your IT provider spends on-site or working on your systems. When you have an issue, is it resolved quickly and do you feel like they respond adequately and with appropriate resources? Now take a look at your expenses.Do you find you’re running out of support hours each month? Or do you pay by the hour/issue? Do you feel like you’re spending more each month but getting less in return? This could be an issue with your provider or a sign that you are attacking your issues individually rather than holistically.
Six questions to ask your IT provider
The following questions, and the information you gather above, will give you the right framework to make informed decisions.
1. Based on our internal review, how well do you believe we are meeting our need and goals? Start by reviewing your existing systems. Keep an open, engaged mind and don’t be afraid to ask questions.
2. What experience do you have supporting ASCs and other medical facilities? There are unique challenges to supporting medical facilities from an IT perspective. If your provider has little understanding of how HIPAA affects their work for you, you might want to look elsewhere for support.
3. Can you support my applications or just my hardware and operating system? There is a huge difference between supporting your applications and supporting the servers on which the applications live. When your clinical applications aren’t working correctly, you need a provider who can help you diagnose the problem fully.
4. How large and experienced is your team? You want to know what resources your provider can call upon to meet your needs. If it is a two-person shop, it may not be available when you need them. But even the largest companies may struggle to meet your needs if they constantly send out new techs to support you. Look for a balance of size and experience.
5. Who on your team will work with us to define our needs and verify they are met? Talk with your provider about your need for a “technology advisor” who can help you to make good technology decisions. Your provider should be willing and able to meet with you annually to review your technology needs and goals, how well it meets your expectations and requirements, and what it can do to improve in the coming year. Be sure to ask your provider about its service level agreement (SLA). This is the written commitment to you for how quickly and completely it will meet your needs.
6. Can you provide us with three references from ASCs or medical facilities? Make sure to ask the references how well the provider helped to define and meet their needs. Ask about response times, overall quality of support, and how satisfied they are as a client.
Mavicor, www.mavicor.com, is a leading ASC technology management company. Mavicor specializes in ASC application services, systems integration and consulting services, as well as the procurement and management of hardware and software.
Learn more about AmkaiSolutions.
