Healthcare organizations are more open to the idea of cloud services than they were just of couple of years ago. With this increased interest comes the question, what to look for in a managed service provider. Managed service providers offer application hosting, infrastructure services, computing solutions, and much more. For a small healthcare facility, this could seem a bit daunting. Here are some key areas of interest to look for when considering the right managed service provider for you.

Response Times

Response times are important. In many cases, the actual work that needs to be done is not in-office. If something goes wrong, you, of course, want it fixed as soon as possible. Talk to the managed service provider and make sure they will be available when you might need them. It does no good if they are not available at times that you may need assistance.

Disaster Recovery

Make sure the managed service provider has a safe backup plan for your data. Data can become lost due to human error, natural disasters, or hackers, and in any of these cases you want to make sure your data is safe. Find out what they have for plans in disaster recovery, and how long it would take to get you up and running again. For more information, see what vBCDR is all about.

Application Performance

Managed service providers have the ability, by your request, to watch and analyze the amount of traffic coming into your office, the performance of applications, the network’s continuity, and if there are any performance issues within your database. Some of these options come standard with your package, but others may cost a little more. Find out what is covered and what options are available.

Increased Security

The healthcare industry has fallen under attack by hackers. Every year patients’ data is stolen from high-enterprise healthcare institutions. The patient information stolen is then sold to identity thieves. The number of patient records sometimes number in the hundreds of thousands. This is enough information to keep a hacker happy for the next several years.

Ask your managed service provider what options are available for your institution. Besides anti-virus software, managed service providers have two-way authentication services, and even hybrid infrastructure models to help keep your data protected from the best of hackers.

Regulatory Audits

Audits are something nobody likes, be it an individual dealing with the IRS, or a healthcare facility waiting on the next visit from HIPAA or some other state or federal agency. Managed service providers can keep track of all the regulatory data, so audits are fulfilled quickly and accurately. This can save your institution a lot of time and potentially thousands of dollars.

The key here is to ask. Managed service providers, especially those that work with healthcare facilities, are equipped to manage all your needs. A dependable provider, such as TOSS C3, will be happy to answer any of your questions.