When it comes to any investment, there’s rarely a “set it and forget it” option that yields good returns. Protecting your investments is key, and that’s especially true with healthcare technology.  As an IT professional, you’re tasked with making sure critical systems stay up and running to support quality patient care 24/7 at your facility.  On top of this, there is pressure to keep maintenance costs down and stay on top of the latest advancements.  It helps to have a full team dedicated to HIT maintenance and troubleshooting to ensure that issues are addressed quickly and effectively. But even smaller departments with limited staff can do a lot to keep healthcare information technology (HIT) running smoothly with these best practices:

Keep it clean.

Touchscreens are easy to use, intuitive, and reduce the need to touch a physical keyboard.  They also meet a lot of fingers on any given day, making the screen a critical fomite for HAIs.  To reduce the spread of healthcare-associated infections, have a regular and rigorous cleaning/disinfecting protocol.  Clean touchscreens are also more responsive, and no patient should have to wait for care while their provider clicks and touches a screen multiple times to get it working.  Take an inventory of other frequently-used peripherals and input devices—all of which should be cleaned regularly.  Ensure that the HIT hardware materials are compatible with cleaning agents that staff is using. Read more >