Managed services providers (MSPs) are focused on providing and supporting their clients' IT infrastructure. More and more client organizations are considering computing resources as a utility they just plug into in order to get their computing services. This enables them to avoid all the headaches associated with maintaining and supporting a host of increasingly complex technology.
Instead, they hand off this burden to a MSP.
If your MSP business is considering entering or already servicing customers in the health care market, there is a strong likelihood than some or all have the need to view, access, and perhaps store medical images. Offering access to medical imaging can be an effective way to expand the value you provide.
Whether you want to host the image repository - known as a picture archiving and communication system (PACS) - in your own data center, or you are simply partnering or white labeling another provider's offering, medical imaging can be a ripe business opportunity.
The software-as-a-service (SaaS) offering of a PACS provider fits well into the typical MSP's utility computing billing model. Most cloud based PACS providers charge in this fashion, and should be willing to offer an opportunity for a reseller margin on their services.
How to Offer a Cloud PACS to Your Clients
Incorporating a cloud-based PACS solution into your managed services offerings can be accomplished in several ways. For one, you can go the private-level route by partnering with a cloud provider. This third-party provider would then do all the heavy lifting of hosting, servicing and supporting the offering.
Learn More: Your Customers Want the Cloud, We Can Help You Deliver It
Alternatively, you can choose to explicitly act as a middleman or "concierge" between a cloud PACS provider and your clients. As the MSP, you will oversee dealing with issues such as the customer's network and communications, putting you in a perfect position to assist your clients in implementing a cloud solution.
Many clients struggle to find reliable resources who can do things such as constructing a virtual private network (VPN), which is often required to connect to the cloud for the privacy and security of the health care profession. It also ensures that users get proper connectivity. An MSP who can provide these services is worth its weight in gold to a cloud PACS vendor.
Why You Should Care about Cloud PACS
For many health care practices, cloud-based PACS solutions represent the future of medical imaging. Most MSPs want to act as a one-stop shop for their clients, meeting all their needs in a single convenient package. With medical imaging being utilized across most health care subspecialty practices, this is an area in which you might want to have a solution.
Despite their many advantages and the buzz surrounding them, cloud PACS are still a bit exotic for some IT professionals, and as such, are not completely embraced in the marketplace. As the trusted resource for your clients, you will be in a great position to hand hold them through the cloud imaging adoption process - one that will provide real benefits for your clients.
With the cloud, not only does your client get all the benefits of having you (or your cloud PACS partner) own all the headache of the computing infrastructure, but cloud PACS can give your clients flexibility in where and how they can access medical images. Additionally, it makes the sharing and collaboration with physicians and even patients easily approachable.
If you already have clients using medical imaging, you likely have opportunities sitting right in front of you.
Final Thought
For many customers who are nervous or hesitant about moving into the cloud by themselves, managed services providers are like the missing link between customers and cloud providers. MSPs are the perfect intermediary for a client in the health care business who wants to move their company into the cloud.
