Meeting The Ever-growing I.T. Needs of the Medical Office

Updated on June 30, 2016

Vertical Solutions copyBy John Chamberlin

What are the ever-growing I.T. needs of today’s medical office?  How do they compare to the I.T. needs of just a few years ago?

When we talked to Bruce D. Nelson, CPA, President of Vertical Solutions, about their company’s current growth spurt, he discussed how today’s office I.T. needs are different.  For example, technical support calls have changed from support tickets to assistance with printers and e-fax issues to helping physicians and staff become more mobile by connecting their smartphones and tablets to the office database.

Vertical Solutions provides medical professionals I.T. support for the diverse medical office functions by providing business management software, business processes, technology expertise and staff training for various software solutions. Basically, they allow medical professionals to focus on growing and operating their businesses by alleviating the headaches of dealing with the various aspects and vendors of the I.T. menagerie.

For instance, smaller practices, with no history of dealing with HIPAA, haven’t had to deal with the I.T. issues associated with recent changes.  As a matter of fact, Vertical Solutions recently completed the first certification in the NextGen Healthcare Certified HIT Consultant Program.  With the passing of the NextGen Healthcare Electronic Health Records (EHR) exam, the company has increased their expertise with the solution and shown their commitment to provide the highest level of implementation and support to their clients.

Vertical Solutions has experienced significant growth recently, including adding a Denver office.  Nelson attributes that growth to the health care reform act, requiring Electronic Medical Records (EMR).  The act created a whole population of users that didn’t have EMR previously and now have to embrace the technology but also deal with the security, communication, training, remote desktop sessions and 24-7 support issues that are associated with EMR implementation. Vertical Solutions offers an entire suite of services for this, thus eliminating the need to search out separate vendors for each solution.

As practitioners still may have 9-to-5 hours for seeing patients, documentation and data access needs have expanded well beyond those office hours due to mobile access.  Vertical Solutions has recognized that expanded need and now supports its clients with a 30-person I.T. “department” from 5am to 11pm.

What challenges does Nelson see for the medical office I.T. industry?  “The biggest challenges are that technology is driving change so rapidly and the evolving healthcare reform act,” he said.

 

Within the 5-year window, smartphones have come into play for accessing patient portals.  But what happens if those devices get lost?  Once again, Vertical Solutions provides that as part of their full service offering.

Also, within the Vertical Solutions portfolio, is the practice of supporting financial management systems, payroll elements and HR elements.  And not just through software.  The staff the company of CPA backgrounds along with their technology background which brings the ability to clearly understand the needs of their customers.

“Our staff know how medical practices work,” said Nelson in his closing thoughts.  “We know that Vertical Solutions exists to make its clients more profitable.”

Vertical Solutions is currently supporting in excess of 2,500 end users in Western Pennsylvania, the Mid-Atlantic area of the U.S and Colorado.  With their growth, they have been sure to maintain their high-touch service, assuring that staff is still within a couple of hours of their clients’ locations.

For more information on services provided by Vertical Solutions, please contact Tina Featheringham at [email protected].

+ posts

Throughout the year, our writers feature fresh, in-depth, and relevant information for our audience of 40,000+ healthcare leaders and professionals. As a healthcare business publication, we cover and cherish our relationship with the entire health care industry including administrators, nurses, physicians, physical therapists, pharmacists, and more. We cover a broad spectrum from hospitals to medical offices to outpatient services to eye surgery centers to university settings. We focus on rehabilitation, nursing homes, home care, hospice as well as men’s health, women’s heath, and pediatrics.