The Shift to Healthcare Lifecycle-Driven IT & Device Management

Without device management, technology meant to enhance healthcare operations and patient care can have the opposite effect. Devices and IT systems need routine monitoring and maintenance to maximize uptime, keep schedules on track, and optimize patient experiences. Health systems, hospitals, clinics, outpatient facilities, and long-term care facilities are all discovering that the solution is lifecycle-driven IT and device management.

What is Lifecycle-Driven IT Management?

IT lifecycle management is a strategic approach to maintaining systems and devices so that they deliver top performance as long as they are in service. Lifecycle system and device management is not a cadence of purchase, then replace. Instead, it involves planning and procuring fit-for-purpose IT hardware, devices, and services, standardized across the organization.

Lifecycle management includes a plan for getting devices to staff, covering provisioning, configuring, and kitting when devices are first deployed and when they're replaced. And when devices and IT infrastructure are in service, monitoring and proactive management enable addressing issues before they result in downtime. Lifecycle management also includes security patching to protect assets and patient information from cyberattacks and data loss, and plans for IT end of life, including wiping data and systematically recycling and replacing devices.

The Shift to Device as a Service Model and Managed Services

A healthcare organization's internal IT team often deals with thousands of devices and IT assets in addition to other responsibilities that clinicians rely on to keep devices and systems operational. Managed models reduce the burden on internal IT teams, while providing healthcare organizations with operational and financial benefits.

Device as a Service

With the Device as a Service model, healthcare organizations lease hardware on a subscription basis. The IT solution provider takes responsibility for provisioning and keeping devices and IT optimized. A Device as a Service agreement will establish a date when the healthcare organization can refresh devices, so that it can plan to upgrade to current technology.

Another benefit of the Device as a Service model is the shift from an upfront capital expenditure and periodic maintenance costs to a predictable operating expense across the agreement timeline. Healthcare organizations will also benefit from an easier pathway to scaling a device fleet as needed.

Managed Services

A managed service provider is an experienced third-party provider that takes responsibility for managing, monitoring, and servicing IT based on a service level agreement. Healthcare organizations can choose managed services for network management, security management, cloud management, or other elements of their IT ecosystems to complement their internal IT team's capacity and expertise.

The Benefits of Lifecycle-Driven IT & Device Management

Lifecycle-driven IT and device management benefits healthcare organizations in multiple ways:

• Device and IT Asset Visibility: With remote monitoring, organizations know which assets are in service and in a spares pool. They also know which are underutilized and could be used in new ways or retired.
• Standardization: Planning IT deployments enables healthcare organizations to standardize systems and devices, simplifying IT management and streamlining user training.
• Regulatory Compliance: The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) Security Rule requires technical safeguards to protect electronically stored, protected health information (ePHI). The AMA explains that healthcare organizations should not rely on certified electronic health records (EHR) to satisfy all requirements of the rule. Lifecycle management allows them to maintain and protect IT equipment and systems so that they fully comply.
• Consistent Care Quality: IT and devices that work reliably eliminate delays and gaps in communications and, therefore, contribute to high-quality care. A Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association (JAMIA) article on PubMed explains that clinicians' mobile devices positively impact rapid response, error prevention, and data accessibility.
• Cost Control: Lifecycle IT management enables planned maintenance and planned refresh cycles, allowing healthcare organizations to establish and conform to a workable budget rather than dealing with unexpected service or replacement costs.
• Operational Efficiency: Lifecycle IT and device management increases efficiency, not just for the healthcare organization's IT team but also for the entire staff. Proactively managed devices work reliably, giving clinicians more time with patients by decreasing the time they spend dealing with technology performance issues.

Choosing a Lifecycle-Driven IT & Device Management Partner

Forming a strategic partnership is key when choosing Device as a Service, outsourced lifecycle services, or managed services. Healthcare organizations should choose a partner that offers lifecycle IT and device management covering planning, procurement, provisioning, kitting, monitoring, ongoing services, help desk, and end-of-life services.

However, the best lifecycle management partner for healthcare IT has industry expertise and offers services tailored to healthcare organizations. Hospitals and healthcare facilities will benefit from a provider that specializes in site surveys, high-density wireless, and private 5G for reliable mobile connectivity. The best partner also expertly provides healthcare solutions for secure telehealth, mobile solutions for clinicians in the facility or working in home healthcare, and patient identification, while ensuring uninterrupted service in patient-facing areas.

Healthcare organizations often use multiple vendors for IT management needs across the technology ecosystem. But working with one accountable and capable vendor for everything from procurement to support is more efficient, enabling greater consistency, standardization, and cost control.

When a healthcare organization works with the right partner for lifecycle IT and device management, all the benefits that the organization planned from the IT deployment can become reality.

Contact Levata to learn more.