24/7 Tech support in healthcare: A nice to have or a need to have?

24/7/365 Tech support in healthcare: A nice to have or a need to have?

If the pandemic highlighted anything in the healthcare sector, it was the value of technology as a critical enabler for delivering the vital medical services provided in hospitals and the community.

It shifted the perception of tech from something taken for granted to a platform that provides valuable, strategic capabilities to a healthcare system. Crucially, it highlighted the importance of the end-to-end technology stack encompassing desktop devices, input/output devices, and all the other technological components needed to deliver healthcare quickly and precisely on a 24/7 basis.

While the value and importance of providing comprehensive 24/7 support are widely recognized in the healthcare sector, finding trusted partners who can provide a service to meet the sector's unique needs has proven much harder for many. While most third-party companies and vendors are familiar with giving office hours support services, delivering the same scale and quality throughout the 24-hour cycle in a hospital setting has posed a considerably greater challenge.

This situation exacerbates the challenge faced by in-house technology support teams. The intense competition for experienced staff in a tight labor market means they must stretch further to meet end-users' ever-higher expectations.

Let's explore these issues in more detail and consider the best approaches for providing 24/7 technology support in healthcare systems.

A changing landscape

Healthcare providers, more than any other industry, have felt the effects of the changed working environment in the past three years. Hybrid work arrangements have become the standard for support staff and are also on the rise among healthcare professionals who provide patient care both in the community and at home.

Technology is a critical part of maintaining these much-valued services.

In the past three years, many people reevaluated their work and lifestyle choices, leading them to seek employment elsewhere for various professional, financial, and personal reasons. This has intensified the competition for scarce skills while increasing the workload for those who remain. The pandemic highlighted the value IT could bring to a complex, fast-changing situation where rapid process innovation is essential. For many IT teams, this has proved a double-edged sword. While it has enhanced understanding and appreciation of their work, the larger budgets they now receive must be balanced with increased business expectations, given the time and resources they have. CIOs are actively seeking innovative and proven solutions to meet heightened demands within limited budgets and resources.

24/7 IT support: An essential service for healthcare providers

These developments have changed the perceptions of senior management teams regarding what services can now be considered essential to running a successful technology function in healthcare environments. Comprehensive 24/7 support is regarded as a necessary piece of the technology mix; the question is how best to provide this service.

The critical issue is that many technology and service providers are familiar with providing the office hours support that most of their (non-healthcare) clients typically need. While they often offer 'extended hours' support, this is usually supplied on a more limited basis, so on-site visits, for example, are excluded. This approach is insufficient for healthcare providers because they have to offer the same level and quality of service on a 24/7 basis. So, they need that same consistent level of always-on technology support to underpin critical services.

For services such as those used to capture and record lab results or ensure that patients get the correct prescriptions, and many others, an effective tech support environment must encompass hardware support, software support, security upgrades, replacing consumables, desktop PC support, and critical input/output devices support services and expertise.

While online and telephone-based support has its place, 24/7 on-site support is imperative. After all, a skilled on-site technician can fix a problem much faster than a hard-pressed medical professional trying to figure out why a device no longer works properly and whose time is better focused on their patients.

How Techio can help

Techio offers unparalleled expertise in providing 24/7 IT support tailored to the healthcare sector. We understand the unique demands of the healthcare sector, where experienced, fully vetted staff need to be available on-site to deliver high-quality service in fast-paced environments.

Our 24/7 support model guarantees consistent service quality, with on-site assistance available round-the-clock to maintain critical technology services. We employ a unique technology management approach to understand how technology is used in your organization and apply these insights to implement predictive maintenance programs, reducing downtime and minimizing disruptions.

‍Learn more about our one-of-a-kind approach to 24/7 technology support and get best-in-class support and expert on-site presence wherever you need it, whenever you need it.