3 Ways MSPs can facilitate innovation for medical device companies
Medical device companies do some of the most important work of all, but although the sector is receiving more funding from government-sponsored initiatives and venture capitalists than it did a few years ago, many organizations are still grappling to regain control over costs. At the same time, the medical device sector is one that is hugely reliant on information technology to optimize performance and provide better results for practitioners and patients.
Oftentimes, high costs end up getting in the way of innovation. After all, running the high-end servers and workstations necessary for handling complex computing workloads doesn’t come cheap.
Given the breakneck speed of technological developments, it has never been more important for medical device companies to avoid these barriers to innovation from the outset. Working with an experienced managed IT services provider (MSP) can go a long way toward making that possible.
#1. Simplify regulatory compliance
Today’s organizations face increasing burden from industry regulators. The healthcare sector faces more challenges than most in this respect. Since many medical devices and research requires collecting patient health information (PHI), HIPAA compliance is a must. Moreover, it’s essential that any partners who handle PHI on your behalf are themselves compliant and that you have the necessary business associate agreements with them.
On top of that, there are ISO standards to think about and international privacy regulations like GDPR. Companies developing clinical trials or drugs also need to consider FDA approval. The list goes on.
Meeting the standards of compliance isn’t getting any easier, but it’s essential for building and maintaining a good reputation, as well as reducing the risk of litigation or fines. For medical device companies, however, compliance-related tasks often end up being so time-consuming and expensive to implement that they end up getting in the way of innovation.
MSPs alleviate this burden by developing a compliance roadmap for your company. The best providers will audit your existing security systems, file management practices, and business procedures, and compile a report detailing what areas of your business are noncompliant with industry regulations. They’ll then recommend top-notch security solutions, such as end-to-end encryption, access restrictions, and endpoint protection, to ensure the privacy and integrity of your data. Consultants will even adjust your data security policies based on the latest changes in HIPAA, ISO, FDA, and other compliance standards.
#2. Protect intellectual property
Intellectual property is a potential target for a wide range of threats, such as cybercriminals bent on stealing it for financial gain and corporate espionage from unethical competitors at home and overseas. The medical device sector is no exception, and it’s important to consider both your company’s freedom to work with pioneering technologies as well as protect your intellectual assets.
To protect your intellectual property, as well as the rights of your customers, you need to build a cybersecurity strategy that can scale with demand and let you innovate without adding risk to your organization. Leading MSPs like A Couple of Gurus help you do just that.
For example, an MSP can help you migrate your data over to the cloud and protect it with multiple layers of security. By simplifying management with a centralized administration dashboard, administrators can keep full audit trails, so they always know who has access to their information.
#3. Augment your employees
With payroll being the single biggest expense in any business, companies are limited when it comes to their capabilities to hire new employees. It’s hardly reasonable to have a fully funded in-house IT department, let alone having just one employee who oversees everything related to technology.
Your employees should be free to focus on their core competencies, rather than constantly being sidetracked by matters like security and compliance.
To make that happen without having to pay the six-figure salaries demanded by many IT specialists, you can outsource technology expertise and management to an MSP. This will augment the capabilities of your employees and allow you to access computing resources and expertise on demand. Best of all, it provides a scalable solution that can grow and adapt to the needs of your business.
a COUPLE of GURUS provides IT support to medical device manufacturers seeking to simplify administration and the many technical aspects involved with regulatory compliance, intellectual property, and business governance.
Call us today, we’d love to talk about how we can help your MDM company be innovative, or get on our calendar for a free consultation and Technology Survey.
