Managed Print Services Help Healthcare Industry Protect Data, Reduce Costs

Hospitals, clinics and other healthcare facilities are continually tasked with cutting costs in ways that don't diminish quality care. Managed Print Services is a strategy for doing just that. It supports the safety and security of patients, while helping organizations save money.

A streamlined, efficient and well-supported infrastructure of technology is crucial, and Managed Print Services offer many benefits to the healthcare industry.

Patient Privacy

Every industry prints some type of secure information. For the healthcare industry, security policies and practices are essential. HIPAA laws mandating the dissemination of information in healthcare can be more easily met with a Managed Print Services solution offering protection of sensitive materials and helping to protect a patient’s right to privacy.

Healthcare settings can manage their print security by installing appropriate software. Marco works with PaperCut, a secure printing software, which allows organizations to ensure patient information remains private. When an employee prints a document from their computer, the printer can hold the data in its queue and won't print the document until that employee is at the printer and swipes or enters an ID to release the job. This helps healthcare organizations ensure printed confidential and sensitive documents end up in the proper hands.

Print Security

Marco’s dedicated Print Security team uses a three-step approach to ensure an organization’s print fleet is secure from cyber threats:

1. Remove end-of-support devices.
2. Keep firmware up to date.
3. Enforce consistent configuration and hardening standards across the fleet.

Especially for the healthcare industry, choosing a print partner that can diagnose your current risks, create action plans for addressing them, and has the infrastructure to grow your security posture throughout the lifecycle of your services is important.

Print devices are fully functional computers that are often overlooked from organization security programming and controls. With Marco, you have instant access to Print Security Advisory services, unique per-customer administrative passwords on every device, as well as secure decommission services at no additional cost. In addition, clients Marco’s newest security service, PrintDefense, brings full, firmware management to our toolset.

Medical Records, Healthcare Initiatives

The organization and management of medical records also can be streamlined. Managed Print Services play a critical role within organizations that print for these reasons:

• Communication with patients related to new policies, requirements and benefits.
• Ongoing correspondence with patients and third-party entities regarding claims processing and disputes.
• Legal documentation associated with litigated benefits and claim disputes.
• Internal dissemination of updated policies, procedures and other processes for documentation.

Reduce Costs, Increase Savings

Hospitals today spend a high portion of their annual budgets on printing and document handling. Moreover, their fleet of printers, scanners and multi-function devices are often inefficient or outdated. Research shows a typical 500-bed hospital spends more than $1.4 million to print 35 million pages annually. Managed Print Services is a way for healthcare organizations to improve workflow and reduce costs in the process.

Marco worked with CentraCare Health to secure its documents and reduce costs. Using Managed Print Services helped the CentraCare Health streamline and optimize its printing. Under the program, CentraCare Health reduced its overall fleet size by 90 devices and began saving upwards of $400,000 annually.

A Supportive Solution

These are just a few features that make Marco unmatched in the industry when it comes to a security-first approach to Managed Print Services.

A supported Managed Print Services solution can assist with complex printing needs, while facilitating smooth communication with providers, support staff, IT staff and patients. 

Connect with an office and coper specialist, or contact a Marco Technology Advisor to get started with a print technology assessment, and learn about cost-saving opportunities for your organization.