By Aine Cryts
Does your practice have a game plan if your electronic health record system goes down? How about if your phone system stops working? To keep your practice running, you need to mobilize the right IT resources, reports Physicians Practice.
If your practice has more than 100 devices--and that includes workstations, phones and copiers--you have two options: You can either hire an internal IT person or outsource these responsibilities to an IT support firm, according to the article.
Your internal IT guru doesn't have to be fully devoted to tackling technical issues, Physicians Practice states. You could, for example, train up one of your more technically savvy nurses to "own" IT projects in addition to his or her clinical duties.
Still, if hiring a full-time IT person is a better fit for your practice, don't let degrees and certificates be the deciding factor on candidates, Jennifer Perry, practice administrator at Norwood Clinic, a large multispecialty practice in Birmingham, Alabama, told the publication. While a college degree is a "nice to have," on-the-job training is more valuable, according to Perry.
And it doesn't have to be an either/or situation. Even if your internal IT person is great at desktop support, your practice may need to rely on outside IT expertise for projects that require networking and programing, according to the article.
To learn more:
- read the article