eBook excerpt
Members of the CereCore CIO Cohort shared their advice on successfully applying managed services within their organizations.
- Keep your mission at the forefront of the decision. Bringing on a managed services team can cause uneasiness among employees and threaten the established culture. To avoid disruption within the workplace, communicate openly about how offloading operational IT tasks to a managed services provider can help employees grow professionally. With employees serving in more strategic roles, your organization can be better positioned to fulfill your mission.
- Capitalize on your strengths. First, understand your organization’s core competencies and evaluate where your skillset gaps are. To achieve maximum value from a managed services partnership, set clear expectations for providers, and map out how managed services could help you better achieve long-term goals for your organization. Once you have decided which operational IT function to outsource, create criteria (like scope, price and quality) and compare and contrast whether it makes more sense to outsource the effort or to keep it in-house.
- Prepare for growth. The ability to scale technology resources and services is key to achieving and sustaining growth. As healthcare organizations take on digital transformation, merger and acquisition activities and more, partial IT outsourcing for functions like IT help desk and infrastructure services provide a mechanism for consistent, quality experiences for providers, clinicians and patients. This dependable, reliable experience breeds longevity of relationships that is critical to growth.
Healthcare IT leaders are under maximum pressure to make the best decisions within a strained industry.
Pros and Cons of Managed Services
PROS
| Lower Operating Cost |
Reduce Duplications |
- Economies of scale reduces number of resources needed to perform the task
- Standardization leads to continuous improvement, saving time and money
- Resources spend time on higher level work, converting non-productive time to productive
|
- Cut out the cost of technology equipment and the resources needed to implement and maintain it
- Alleviate the burden of hiring and training resources needed to maintain adequate staffing levels
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| 24/7 IT Support |
Quality Assurance |
- Healthcare doesn’t stop so having support available when needed can drastically improve customer service and minimize disruptions in workflows
|
- Outsourced services establish service level agreements and provide performance metrics that measure quality
- Insights gained from reporting help uncover opportunities for improvement
- Issue triage and project assignment to the appropriate level of subject matter expertise helps ensure timely and accurate resolution
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CONS
| Lack of On-Site Presence |
Misaligned Objectives |
- The pandemic proved that IT functions could be done effectively while remote, lessening the dependence upon on-site resources
|
- Ineffective communication with a managed services partner can cause confusion about the vision and goals
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| Scope |
- Specialization of IT managed services providers can limit the scope of IT services they provide
|
Pros and Cons of Staffing Services
PROS
| Cost-Friendly Solution |
Timely Turnaround of Staff |
- Accommodate the need for staff on short-term projects without a long-term commitment
|
- Staffing firms will do all of the time-consuming HR onboarding processes, allowing your organization time to focus on job specific requirements and training
|
| Doesn’t Require Commitment |
Provide Niche Skill Sets |
- Organizations can decide at any time that they no longer have a need for staffing service
|
- Specialized subject matter experts can be hard to find without the help of staffing services who can find the right person for the job
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CONS
| Sensitive Materials |
More Complex to Manage |
- Although all employees provided via staffing services must sign confidentiality agreements, they still are exposed to potentially sensitive materials
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- Managers may need to approach managing temporary staff differently
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| Long-Term Cost Concerns |
- Extending billable consulting rates over time can create a tipping point that outweighs a managed services model
|
Patient care begins with supporting you.
Download the full eBook for information about what these services provide, the benefits and pitfalls of each, and steps to weigh the options allowing you to make an informed decision about which model is right for you.
