Imagine a hospital’s project management software crashes, preventing it from checking in patients or accepting copays. Staff resorts to manual processes and paper documentation, but it’s hard to admit patients on schedule when providers aren’t getting notifications about patient check-ins. The waiting room is packed, the line at the front desk is long, and everyone is having a bad day.
It’s a medical facility’s worst nightmare. All it takes is one crash — or worse, a cyberattack — taking down a single link in the technology chain, and the negative surveys start flooding in. Reliable, scalable, and secure technology is the key to improved communication, streamlined processes, better data management, and better patient experiences overall.
The impact of IT on the patient experience
Whether it’s your temperature-controlled fridges, online scheduling portal, or electronic medical record (EMR) system, technology makes or breaks the modern patient experience. Unexpected downtime of any of these, patient-facing or not, will impact patients’ experiences in one way or another.
Internal IT teams are left playing a high-stakes balancing game with vital patient care, complex and interconnected technology, massive amounts of sensitive data, and very real cyber security threats.
Balancing necessary data access and security
Nearly 400 data breaches were reported to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) in the first half of 2024. It’s clear the healthcare industry is being targeted, but the solution isn’t simple.
Patient data needs to flow between applications, care providers, and other staff members — but to what extent? Who has access to which datasets, how they’re used, and who has elevated privileges must all be carefully managed. While the front desk staff and billing team do need access to a patient’s contact and billing information, they don’t need to see the patient’s medical history, prescriptions, or test results.
However, which datasets, how they’re used, who has access, and who has elevated privileges must all be carefully managed.
IT teams must walk a very fine line between facilitating this flow of information and limiting security risk to the organization. If they implement security measures that are too stringent, it slows processes and bogs down the internal teams responsible for granting access. At best, this causes unnecessary delays in patient care and communication. At worst, employees seek ways to bypass security controls, putting patient data and the facility’s bottom line at risk in the process.
Limited staffing and high turnover
According to the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), there will be a shortage of 78,610 full-time RNs nationwide in 2025. The supply of doctors will also struggle to meet the growing demands of our aging population, with an estimated 86,000 unfilled positions by 2036. This puts a significant strain on active providers, as they’re asked to take on more and more.
But the staffing challenges don’t end with clinical roles. Healthcare organizations, especially in rural and under-served communities, face a significant IT and cybersecurity skills gap. With technology playing a critical role in healthcare, securing tech talent is just as essential as finding qualified caregivers. These areas are often the ones that need technology the most — whether it’s for efficient patient management systems or to defend against increasing cyber threats — yet they are hardest hit by the shortage of skilled IT professionals.
Short-staffed medical facilities can struggle to provide the level of care that retains patient loyalty. Patients don’t want to wait three months to be seen, nor do they appreciate having their one-on-one time with their provider being cut short because another patient (or three) is waiting.
Outdated or limited tech functionality
Outdated, siloed, and glitchy technology only adds to this strain. Imagine an already packed case load virtually doubling when the new scheduling platform allows patients to make appointments with a provider who is out on vacation. Patients seem to be checking-in rapid fire, and the on-duty staff is forced to accommodate the influx … somehow.
Between scheduling, medical records, customer satisfaction surveys, the platforms used by the lab and radiology teams, and so on, medical facilities work with tens, if not hundreds, of third-party vendors. In most cases, these tools are not designed to speak to each other, and it’s often up to the internal IT team to develop the interface between them. This doesn’t always make for the smoothest of processes. Little inconveniences, such as lost blood test results, unanswered messages, or billing errors, add up over time.
Access is another challenge patients face, especially for those in rural and under-served communities. Receiving care from specialized providers is particularly challenging, as they’re in shorter supply and require visits to specific, sometimes distant, facilities. Luckily, telehealth is more prevalent these days, but this technology isn’t without its own challenges. While patients can speak with a provider from the comfort of their own home, a slow connection can be just as frustrating as a long wait time. Additionally, A VOIP tool — like any third-party vendor software — must be carefully considered from a cybersecurity and compliance perspective before integrating it into your cyber ecosystem.
Tips for Improving Patient Care with IT
In the fast-paced world of healthcare, technology is constantly evolving. To provide the best possible care, healthcare executives need to regularly assess their IT infrastructure for gaps and areas for improvement. With these practical tips, you can make more informed technology decisions, optimize your investments, and ensure the highest-quality patient care.
- Get your staff involved
Patient and employee surveys are a great way to identify the greatest gaps in your tech functionality and user experience. Your IT team can also pull insights from their support ticketing software, highlighting where users are struggling. This feedback is vital to continuously improving the services you provide and, by extension, patient satisfaction. - Identify gaps in your security and compliance strategies
IT may also have technology requirements that relate to minimizing downtime, disaster recovery, or security, which should be at the top of the list when assessing your tech infrastructure. HIPAA non-compliance penalties, cyberattacks, and the current surge of data breach class action lawsuits can be devastating to a medical facility. IT plays a significant role in avoiding these negative outcomes — before they can impact your patients. - Consider incorporating or improving your remote access capabilities
If remote access is important to the demographic you serve, or if you’re struggling to attract specialized talent, telehealth is a must. Mobile apps, where patients can schedule appointments, send messages, and view test results, are another way to extend support to those who struggle to make it into the office. - Focus on gathering more data and streamlining processes
Artificial intelligence (AI) and analytics are powerful resources for detecting patterns in survey responses and in the support tickets being submitted internally to inform your approach. Automation is another piece of the “smart tech” puzzle for countless reasons. For example, automatic appointment reminders can take a tedious process off your employees’ plates and significantly reduce no-shows. This lightens internal workloads and shows additional support to busy patients who’d rather not get an unexpected cancellation fee. - Prepare for the worst case scenario
You never know when a natural disaster, power outage, system crash, or cyber attack will strike. In these situations — which seem to happen far too frequently for anyone’s comfort — your IT team is your first line of defense. They prioritize keeping mission critical systems online and work to minimize patient impact. - Partner with a managed IT services provider
If internal resources are already at capacity and unable to take on a tech optimization deep dive, you may want to consider partnering with a managed IT services provider. They function as a “fractional” IT team, bringing technical expertise, familiarity with complex security and compliance initiatives, and a network of highly vetted vendors to meet your unique needs. By offloading tedious, resource-intensive IT tasks, you’ll free up internal resources to focus on supporting and improving patient care.
Enhance patient satisfaction and quality care
With the rapid evolution of technology, relentless cyber threats, changing compliance requirements, and an aging population with increasing need for health care, a proactive and comprehensive approach to technology management is necessary. This empowers healthcare organizations to leverage the full power of technology to not only streamline processes and improve efficiency, but also to enhance patient satisfaction, engagement, and ultimately, the quality of care provided.
ISG is here to help you navigate this process of transforming your IT from “cost center” to the “value center” that it has the potential to be. Talk to an ISG HealthTech expert today.