Why Dental Offices Need Managed IT Services

Running a dental practice is becoming more complex, requiring beyond patient care. Now you need administrative and IT management to ensure that things run smoothly. Dental offices are just like other businesses – they need to keep abreast with the latest technology to provide the best service or care for patients/clients.

Dental clinics can maximize efficiency and operations by employing the essential tools and IT systems. With the evolution of the IT industry, it is now feasible for dental professionals to keep track of their records digitally and in real time.

Hiring dental office IT support in-house is not feasible for most practices, and even if it is, it is not the most financially sensible business decision. The additional operational fixed costs of having IT personnel in your payroll can affect a dental practice’s profitability. 

The smartest solution is to outsource your managed IT services.

Why Managed IT Services?

Why outsource IT? At first glance, it seems ideal to have an in-house IT department. It is easier to reach, manage, and you get more hands-on assistance when you hire IT staff in-house. 

In the meantime, in-house IT is also more expensive and less robust. When an IT guy gets sick or suddenly quits, you are immediately in a bit of a headache. Even if your IT staff is out sick, your dental practice still needs to continue, get up and running.

It’s time to switch to managed IT services when:

• Your dental practice experiences frequent system downtime and IT issues,
• You or a staff member mishandles technology and ends up costing you time and/or money,
• Your personnel has voiced complaints on how slow the computer units and networks are, affecting their work productivity and performance, and
• Your current IT provider takes too long to repair your systems when they break.

Dental practices can best benefit by outsourcing to managed service providers (MSPs) that specialize in healthcare IT to lend their expertise in the area, including:

• Optimized Productivity
• HIPAA Compliance
• Remote & On-site Support
• Cloud Solutions
• Cybersecurity Solutions

Optimized Productivity

Managed IT services are focused on key business needs to boost productivity and reduce operational costs. Their fees cost a lot less than the costs of an in-house IT department. 

Outsourcing to the experts allows you to focus on your core practice. While you focus on caring for your patients, MSPs can focus on running your systems seamlessly. All of the specialized services, including maintenance, monitoring, repairs, updates, and more, are yours for a fixed monthly fee. 

HIPAA Compliance

HIPAA stands for Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA), a US legislation that ensures patient privacy and security of dental patients. HIPAA compliance for dental clinics are required to safeguard and protect sensitive health information. 

Risk analyses and assessments must be done to tailor-fit training of dental staff depending on their specific roles. It is also necessary to appoint separate or multiple HIPAA Privacy Officers and HIPAA Security Officers, especially for larger dental firms.

MSPs also ensure HIPAA compliance by being up-to-date in IT software and systems using the latest data security.

Remote & On-site Support

With a third-party IT provider, you have a team of full-time professionals that will provide remote support round the clock. When your in-house personnel are asleep or out of office, MSPs have remote staff that can resolve potential and unexpected issues anytime, 24/7: during off hours, weekends, or holidays. For emergencies, you can request on-site support.. A good and proactive MSP may also have regular on-site visits scheduled for proper maintenance of your on-premises systems.

Cloud Solutions 

Cloud-based solutions are the game changer in technology in managing dental practices by providing flexible means to store and access real-time clinic data and applications anytime, anywhere.

Another helpful cloud solution is the cloud phone system, a Voice-over-Internet Protocol (VoIP) service that allows you to make and receive phone calls with patients and among staff members. Through this, companies do not need to invest in expensive hardware and software to run their phone system. Instead, a third-party provider can host their phone system for them to keep costs low but provide security, scalability, and ease of use.



It is vital for a dental clinic’s cloud phone systems to still be HIPAA-compliant; pieces of patient information being relayed over cloud communications need to be kept private and secure. The data on servers should be encrypted with TLS or SSL protocols.

Cybersecurity Solutions

Security may very well be the most important reason to have a specialized IT partner monitoring their network and systems. Cyberattacks have accelerated in scale and damage in the past 4 years. Cybercriminals now have access to advanced tools to infiltrate and exploit organizations, both large and small, healthcare facilities, and dental practices being their most prominent targets.

When you’re on your own with your IT systems, overcoming cyberattacks can be an uphill battle. It’s important to get access to cybersecurity experts. Select MSPs are heavily invested in cybersecurity and make sure their clients’ systems are 24/7 safeguarded and secure, yet still provide affordable rates. Through modification of security processes, they can ensure that your practice’s and patients’ data is well protected.

Optimize Your Dental Practice with ER Tech Pros

Managing a medical practice is undoubtedly challenging. The responsibility of managing your patient’s oral health and records is massive, and so many things can go wrong at any place and at any time. 

If your practice cannot afford to have a full-time IT department, the best choice is to outsource your IT operations. When selecting the best managed service provider, choose the right company – one that has extensive knowledge of what a medical practice needs. 

ER Tech Pros is such healthcare-focused MSP with decades of experience working with healthcare organizations. So you can focus on your dental practice, while we can focus on running your IT systems at peak performance.

If you’re ready to transform your clinic’s IT but not sure how to proceed, you can schedule a free consultation with one of our experts. Let's explore your IT options and help you develop the most suitable plan for your medical practice. Schedule a call with us to see how we can help.