Staying up-to-trend with your EHR initiatives is not just a strategic choice but a necessity for organizations aspiring to deliver optimal patient care. In fact, in a recent survey conducted by Sage Growth, it was revealed that 60% of healthcare C-suites identified EHR optimization as their top technology initiative for the year. In addition, only 17% of the respondents strongly agreed that their EHR will adequately meet their future needs (Becker’s, 2024). The gap in this data shows us that healthcare leaders understand the need to keep up with the evolving EHR landscape but may not have adequate resources to reach their existing strategic goals – let alone their future goals. If you’ve found yourself in this position, you’re not stuck! Application Managed Services could be your answer. Here are some benefits of adopting an application managed services partner:
Improve patient outcomes and efficiency, don’t just keep the lights on.
Utilizing a managed services partner allows organizations to free up their internal application and technical staff from day-to-day IT support and maintenance, enabling them to focus on strategic goals and initiatives. According to a 2022 KLAS survey of clinicians, around 20% of respondents reported they might leave their current organization in the next two years. Of those respondents, 60% point to burnout as the reason. As the head of HCTec’s Application Managed Services team, I see this theme in almost all our partner organizations – internal teams (clinicians and application analysts) are spread too thin with maintenance and EHR tasks, ultimately pulling them away from focusing on the quality of patient care and strategic goals. The job of our Application Managed Services team is to take the maintenance lift off your shoulders, allowing you to prioritize what keeps your mission moving forward – delivering excellent patient outcomes.
Improve your operating expenses.
It is estimated that on average, 60-80% of IT budgets are allocated to keeping EHR systems maintained and running (Mechanical Orchard). Now, what percentage of this budget range is spent on your team’s labor costs? What percent of time does your team spend on upkeep and maintenance? A managed services provider like HCTec inherits the time and labor costs of this maintenance so your team can reallocate human resources and focus on key business projects and initiatives. Imagine the power that comes with more time for digital transformation!
Gain access to supplemental analysts and resources.
In the rapidly evolving landscape of healthcare IT, staying up to date is crucial for your health system’s overall success. Our team of 125+ experienced EHR analysts acts as an extension of our client’s application teams, assisting with the ongoing management of their Epic and Cerner EHRs, plus multiple third-party applications. In addition, our analysts are 100% U.S.-based and provide 24x7x365 support.
Improve your IT department’s ability to measure performance.
When you partner with an Application Managed Services provider, you should be in the loop with data analytics and reporting. For example, our teams utilize robust Service Level Agreements (SLAs) to exceed industry standards and ensure a timely response and resolution to your IT issues and requests. Key focus areas include ticket acknowledgment, incident resolution timeframe, request fulfillment time, and customer satisfaction. Measuring performance is crucial to identifying your team’s impact on overall patient experience.
To Conclude
Application Managed Services is a powerful solution to address the complex challenges and inefficiencies faced by healthcare organizations. By partnering with a managed services vendor, your organization can greatly improve the management and maintenance of your team’s applications, streamline operations, improve operating expenses, and focus on delivering optimal patient outcomes.
If you’d like to learn more about partnering with HCTec for our Application Managed Services offerings, contact us today!
