Managing HIPAA Compliance Risk and Productivity Loss with Managed Services
For over 35 years AmCare Ambulance has served Central and Upstate New York and is a recognized Emergency Medical Services (EMS) leader in the region. AmCare’s fleet of seven ambulances responds to over 9,000 calls per year.
AmCare is recognized for bringing the first Advanced Life Support service and Advanced Airway Care program to the City of Rome, NY. AmCare holds the benchmark for EMS skills in the field and regularly provides training to students in Madison, Herkimer, and Oneida Counties.
Challenge: IT Issues and HIPAA Compliance Risk
AmCare Ambulance is growing and, as a result, has become more reliant on technology for its daily operations. Time-consuming computer issues and frequent network outages bombarded employee resources, making them unable to focus on their primary jobs. They were facing an ever-increasing business need for transparency in their network for troubleshooting, problem resolution, and mitigation. The lack of ongoing, predictable, and proactive IT support was causing IT issues to pile up. Soon, the situation reached a breaking point when AmCare’s network went down for hours, causing them to miss emergency requests and impeding their ability to respond to patient calls. The administration knew it was time for an in-depth IT network assessment. Even during normal uptime, the network was slow. PC software updates were another concern.
Solution: Managed Services for Medical Services
M.A. Polce assessed AmCare’s infrastructure and topology, including incidents, faults, downtime, and security vulnerabilities. Audit results showed susceptibilities in the existing infrastructure and areas where their network and PCs must be optimized, patched, and updated. Bottlenecks were predicted, and the network was proactively adapted to ensure the productivity of applications and business continuity.
M.A. Polce provided the EMS with a custom-managed services program for their environment. The program includes advanced reporting, continuous hourly monitoring, and proactive IT support. Choosing a solution that ensures IT compliance with HIPAA industry standards and protects against HIPAA compliance risks was a deciding factor in working with M. A. Polce.
“M.A. Polce Consulting has been an important part in advancing our technological needs. In this fast-paced environment it is comforting to have their knowledge and expertise keep our business current and up-to-date.”
Chris Grenier, AEMTP at AmCare Ambulance Services
Business Outcome: HIPAA Compliance with Managed IT Services
AmCare has eliminated employee productivity loss with a managed IT solution that keeps track of their software and equipment, maintains up-to-date network patches, and provides HIPAA-grade security updates.
“Problems are solved at the first sign of trouble and 99% of the time before AmCare is aware of the potential issue.”
Chris Roy, Managed Services Director at M.A. Polce Consulting
Now, AmCare can focus on providing industry-leading emergency care to its patients without worrying about IT and is no longer experiencing network outages. The organization benefits by having strong security and data protection processes, and its systems are kept up to date by installing and verifying patches automatically based on policies and procedures customized for AmCare’s requirements. It now has access to IT resources with critical competencies required to manage every piece of the network and endpoints daily. As the IT service provider, M.A. Polce keeps track of the software and equipment AmCare uses and keeps them informed when you should consider switching to newer versions.
“Our network issues affected all of us—patients and staff. We feel a lot more secure knowing our network won’t be causing downtime and that our IT infrastructure is kept up-to-date and secure.”
Paul Taylor, President/ CEO at AmCare Ambulance Services
Managed Services save AmCare money by improving computers, networks, and software efficiency. AmCare benefits from the peace of mind its managed IT program permits. The organization continues to provide professional, comprehensive, fixed-price support and monthly health checks. Roy says,
“although we don’t work out of the AmCare office, we are viewed as an extension of their team. We are accountable to AmCare and see our value in knowing how to prevent and solve any problems at the first sign of trouble and making recommendations that save money in the long-run. This means AmCare’s daily operations no longer suffer.”
Managed IT Services for Healthcare and Medical Services
With the amount of personally identifiable information (PII) at stake, secure IT services for healthcare organizations are critical. To help protect the privacy of health information, M.A. Polce offers managed IT, managed cybersecurity, and managed risk and compliance services for medical organizations in New York State. Contact us today to learn about our IT services for the healthcare sector.
