The COVID-19 pandemic has cast many problems affecting the healthcare industry in a sharp focus — putting unforeseen pressure on administrators, health professionals, and even patients as health care facilities struggle under the weight of the increased patient load and new procedures.
Facilities must put access control and triage measures in place to deal with the onslaught of infectious COVID-19 cases while minimizing risks for employees and other patients.
Amidst the need for new technologies, procedures, and facilities lies another crisis — the fact that the U.S. healthcare system has been underfunded for years, leaving them little leeway in facing this looming crisis.
Since 2010, state public health department spending plummeted by 16% and local health department spending dropped by 18%, forcing facilities to reconfigure already tight budgets.
That means continued reliance on aging IT infrastructure and outdated equipment, tools that are essential to the critical workings of a healthcare facility — especially in emergency situations.
Smart healthcare administrators looking for ways to keep the budget lean while ensuring staff have access to the right tools are turning to managed services providers (MSPs) to stay abreast of technology.
Nowhere is this more critical than in the hospital print environment.
Managed print services (MPS) are a critical adjunct to a rapid-paced, successful healthcare environment.
Hospitals and other healthcare facilities rely on printing to process patient records; print prescriptions and properly label lab samples, charts, and dispensed medications; as well as provide typical office management and support functions.
In addition, hospitals are affected by several data privacy and protection regulations, the most common of which is HIPAA.
This places a greater onus on administrative and in-house IT staff to monitor printer usage — a task that depletes staff resources and diverts action from more mission-critical actions.
For hospitals, a managed print environment can quickly provide hard-and-fast benefits, such as:
MPS is all about strategy and experience shows that a print strategy that deploys cost-management protocols such as pull printing, automated supply replenishment, and fleet optimization can save money and reduce the total cost of ownership by 40% or more by:
Not only does this strategy reduce costs, but it also reduces the amount of time the in-house staff spends tracking these elements.
Print management providers conduct routine maintenance and service on all equipment, ensuring that everything is in working order so your staff can be ready in a crisis.
Additionally, IT experts are on call to provide expert troubleshooting on a 24/7 basis to keep your facility running smoothly.
With an MPS provider, your in-house office staff, administrative staff, or IT team can focus their efforts on improving productivity and efficiency in other areas.
And, with one source for equipment, supplies, and service, reliance on multiple vendors is eliminated for frustration-free budgeting and spend tracking.
Security and compliance are essential in the hospital environment. With MPS, you get a host of security protections, including:
There is much more to the security equation when it comes to printing and your MPS provider will be up to speed on the latest protocols as threats evolve and change.
In today’s healthcare environment, you need all your staff ready to respond to crises as they appear. That means they don’t have time to be troubleshooting a jammed printer, dealing with connectivity issues, or worrying about data security.
At Edwards Business Systems (EBS), we understand the benefits a well-managed print environment can extend to our clients in the healthcare industry.
Our team of IT experts will quickly assess your current infrastructure as well as gain a full understanding of business objectives, challenges, and goals. Then, we will design a custom-tailored print environment, optimized to achieve those goals as efficiently — and cost-effectively — as possible.
Within this environment, you’ll find top-level security protocols, reliable maintenance and troubleshooting, and automatic replenishment of supplies so your staff has the time they need to focus on patient care and business processes.
Take your healthcare facility to the next level of cost-effectiveness, security, and efficiency. Contact an EBS representative now and learn Managed Print services can help your facility excel in a post-COVID environment.