Many dental practices are nowadays outsourcing their IT needs to third parties. And there are reasons for that. By outsourcing their IT needs, they are able to focus on providing their patients with high-quality care, save money on their IT budget, and even save on office space.
However, it can be quite a challenge to find the right IT company for your dental practice, so here are some of the top things you should look for in an IT company before outsourcing your IT needs to them:
- Security and safety
Before you outsource your IT services for dental clinics, you need to ensure that the company you want to hire takes security and safety seriously. Remember that even dental offices are prone to hacking and data theft, which is why you need to prioritize security. A good IT company will ensure that your system has up-to-date security software and tools to safeguard that data. This includes firewalls, anti-virus, encryption, anti-malware, etc.
Of course, as a dental practitioner, you cannot afford to have a hacker accessing your patient’s data. Or in a worse scenario, a hacker seizing all your patient records and holding them for ransom. You could end up losing everything if you fail to pay the ransom. Of course, you wouldn’t want to go through all that. That’s why you must outsource your IT needs to a company that takes security seriously. And not only that, but you should also ensure that the company offers a system that allows you to seamlessly continue with your normal operations while repairs are being performed in case of a hitch.
- Support HIPAA Compliance
You also need to outsource your IT services to a company that complies with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act [HIPAA] security rule. This means that the company can preserve the privacy of your patient’s information. Make sure that the company is committed to securing your patient’s confidential data and offers tools and features that support HIPAA compliance.
- They understand the Practice Management Software you use
Your dental practice has different IT needs different from other types of healthcare practices. This is why it is advisable to find an IT provider that has experience with not just dental practices but with the specific type of practice management software you use.
- They support cloud services
Another crucial thing you need to pay attention to when choosing an IT company is cloud services. Cloud services will not only save you the cost of the server hardware, but also the space required for it. One of the best things about cloud services is that it makes backup and disaster recovery pretty easier. So make sure that the company supports cloud services.
- They have amazing customer support
Even if an IT company has an excellent IT system, it won’t be helpful if it has poor customer support. Let’s face it; your IT network can go down, limiting your access to crucial files. So you will need to fix the issue ASAP. The last thing you want is to have to wait forever for the IT company to fix the problem. To avoid that, make sure that the company offers excellent customer support.
