Does Your Hospital Have a Terminal Case of Paper Overload? Managed Print Services Can Help Streamline Your Document Needs

It's no secret that hospitals have high-volume printing demands. While electronic health records have improved the ability for healthcare providers to quickly share patient information with each other, they have not reduced hospitals' demand for printing. Hospitals often become swamped in documents such as patient consent forms, administrative notices, and faxes from other healthcare providers.

One way to reign in your hospital's printing costs is to use a managed print service. These services provide your hospital with printers and copiers that are fully maintained by the vendor, not your IT staff. Switching your current IT infrastructure to a managed print service can save you a great deal of money while improving cybersecurity. For more information, read on for the benefits that managed print services can provide your hospital.

Streamlines IT Infrastructure and Relieves Staff from Managing Printers

It's common for hospitals to amass a large number of printers, copiers, and fax machines from several disparate companies, all with their own maintenance schedules, service agreements, and supply requirements.

When you use managed print services, you'll receive all new equipment to replace your current fleet of printers and copiers. All of this will be managed by your service provider, including maintenance and repair. This takes a large burden off of your IT staff, who no longer have to support such a wide variety of printers and copiers.

With less time spent supporting your printers, your IT staff will have more time available to maintain and repair administration workstations and medical equipment—this can help you improve your hospital's ability to deliver care to patients.

Improves Security at the Printer Level, Keeping Patient Health Information Safe

Security is a foremost concern for hospitals. Patient health information needs to be protected in line with HIPAA requirements, and securing your documents is an important step toward fulfilling that goal.

Printers and copiers are often left in common areas that are accessible to multiple departments. Some may even be accessible to the public. If a physician prints out a copy of a patient's electronic health records and it goes missing from the print tray before he or she can pick it up, this situation is a potential breach of patient confidentiality. While situations such as these are often accidental, it underscores the need to protect patient information at every level of your hospital, including your printers.

Managed print services can help your hospital keep patient information safe and confidential with modern, high-security printers. Documents that your staff send to the print queue can be encrypted until they're ready to print. Smart card integration on printers allows employees to verify that they're present at the printer before sensitive documents are printed, ensuring that no one else is able to take documents out of the print tray, whether accidentally or maliciously.

Overall, managed print services provide a number of benefits to hospitals: they can improve security, reduce costs, and even help you better care for your patients.

For more information about managed print, contact a business like Industry Analysts, Inc.

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