Will the General IT Practitioner Suffice?
Choosing how to manage IT for your senior care facility can seem like a daunting task. You want the best possible IT solution so you can focus your time and energy on your residents. In most cases, you will have to choose between hiring a general IT practitioner, hiring a number of specialists, or hiring a remotely-managed IT service provider.
What is a General IT Practitioner?
A general IT practitioner is someone who is proficient in many areas of information technology but specializes in none. A general practitioner can typically provide desktop support, manage databases, webpages, and phone servers. If you were going to hire one person to manage IT for your business, you’d probably go with a general practitioner.
When a General IT Practitioner Isn’t Enough
Just like you could choose a general practitioner for your medical care, you can also choose a general practitioner for your IT needs. While it might be a good idea to start out with a general practitioner, as soon as you are diagnosed with a heart condition, for example, you’re going to need to be referred to a specialist or even a team of specialists. People bring their kids to see a pediatrician because they specialize in the care of infants and children. You should think about IT solutions for your business the same way.
A general IT practitioner is great for the basics. But senior care has many industry-specific tech requirements your general IT practitioner probably won’t be familiar with. But, that doesn’t mean you have to go out and hire a bunch of IT specialists to meet all of you needs. That would get really expensive, really fast.
A More Sensible Solution for Senior Living
Wouldn’t it make more sense to opt for a remotely-managed IT solution that has all the specialists you’d ever need available to you any time day or night for a reasonable rate? We think so. At IHS, we understand the intricacies of this industry and have a great team in place to take the burden of managing IT off of your and your employee’s shoulders so you can focus on your main priority—your residents!
Focus. Does it Really Matter?
We rely on technology for just about everything these days, including keeping our businesses up and running. But, what do you do when your tech breaks? Unless you are an IT genius yourself, you hire someone. Every business has the need for IT services. What that looks like for each business across a wide range of industries looks very different. However, what it really boils down to is should you hire a generalist or a specialist? If you’re operating in the senior care industry, we have the answer for you!
What’s the Difference?
An IT service provider that’s classified as a generalist understands a wide range of IT-related topics, but has little depth in any one area. Tech specialists on the other hand, such as Integrated Health Systems, maintain a deep understanding and focus in a specialized area such as Senior Living Solutions. Both generalists and specialists have an important role to in the world of IT, but you will need to determine which one is the right fit for your business.
Don’t Use a Jack of All Trades…
…master of none. Many startups and young businesses opt to hire a generalist for their IT needs. While hiring an IT generalist may cost you less in the short-term it could end up costing you later on down the road. When you’re faced with an IT issue and your generalist isn’t able to remedy the problem right away, you’re going to be looking at some downtime. Can your business afford to have downtime? What will be the impact to your customers?
Specialists in Senior Care
The senior care industry is unique. Seniors require specialized care, so it makes sense to use an IT solution that is tailored to the needs of the senior care industry. It’s a thriving industry and any business owner in senior care knows that they need an IT service provider that’s going to be able to grow and scale with them. With a specialized service provider like Integrated Health Systems, you’re getting a team of highly trained specialists that are familiar with your business’s specific needs.
Focus—IT Matters
Hiring the right IT service provider can allow you to focus on your real priorities. With IHS’s PULSE, a remote IT Help Desk Solution for Senior Living, you can hand over the management of your technology and spend more time focusing on what’s really important—caring for your residents. Some of the benefits of using a specialist like IHS as your IT service provider and being able to focus on your residents include:
- Lower costs
- Access to a team of IT experts
- Increased efficiency
- Improved focus
- 24/7/365 availability
