Columbia Gastroenterology Associates
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While many physician groups have been acquired by hospitals and other corporate-owned entities, private practices continue to play a critical role in the healthcare system. In fact, some doctors are leaving large-scale facilities and medical groups to return to independent practice. Columbia Gastroenterology Associates did just that, returning to private practice in 2020 after joining a hospital system.
The right technology is vital to smaller independent practices, helping them acquire new patients and streamline many administrative tasks. Technology also helps physicians focus on their patients and create a positive experience.
Columbia Gastroenterology relies on IronLogix for all its technology needs. IronLogix helps the medical practice keep its IT environment up to date and implement new solutions that increase efficiency and enhance care. Most importantly, IronLogix provides ongoing support to ensure that the IT environment is secure and compliant with government and industry regulations.
Fully Outsourced Solution
For more than 40 years, the physicians of Columbia Gastroenterology have been evaluating and treating a wide range of gastrointestinal and liver disorders. The practice has 33 people on staff, including providers, and features an onsite endoscopy center for its patients’ convenience. However, Columbia Gastroenterology does not have an IT staff.
“IronLogix is our IT department,” said Tina Faulk, Office Coordinator, Columbia Gastroenterology. “They take care of all our IT needs, even in our endoscopy center. I call them almost every day for something and they are very responsive.”
For Columbia Gastroenterology, outsourcing its IT needs makes good business sense. It’s more cost-effective than hiring IT staff and provides a higher level of service. IronLogix has a deep bench of engineers with the expertise to resolve issues quickly.
“It’s important for IT environment to be up and running all the time,” Faulk said. “IronLogix monitors everything and takes care of many issues before we’re even aware they’re a problem. When we have support requests, we get to set the priority and they respond accordingly. We don’t have to worry about an IT person being sick or on vacation — IronLogix is always there for us.”
Security and More
The privacy and security of patient data is of critical importance to Columbia Gastroenterology. The practice relies on IronLogix to protect the IT environment against cyberattacks and ensure that data can be recovered if needed.
“They handle our data backups for us and are constantly evaluating our security to ensure we’re protected against the latest threats,” Faulk said. “They’re actually developing some new things that we’re going to bring on board to further enhance our safety and security.”
The practice’s phone system is another key element of the IT environment. IronLogix implemented a cloud-based phone system that provides enterprise-class features without the need for significant investments in onsite equipment. The phone system provides full call center functionality, helping the practice’s staff handle patient calls efficiently. It also supports video conferencing, SMS/MMS text messaging and chat, and integrates with Microsoft Office applications.
“IronLogix also supports our phone system, and takes care of any administrative tasks,” Faulk said. “There are always going to be glitches, so it gives us peace of mind that IronLogix is there to resolve them.”
Long-Term Relationship
IronLogix also takes on complex IT projects for Columbia Gastroenterology. The IronLogix team completed a conversion of the endoscopy center’s electronic medical records (EMR) system so that it could integrate with the rest of the practice.
“It was very complicated,” Faulk said. “They had to get the endoscopy center up and running on the EMR system we use and transfer all the data. None of that is easy. Any time you do a major application change, it’s going to be difficult getting the data over. But they were able to successfully complete the project and now everything works seamlessly.”
Columbia Gastroenterology has worked with IronLogix for more than 20 years, except for the eight years the practice was with the hospital system. In fact, the practice was one of the first IronLogix customers. The fact that the practice returned to IronLogix after leaving the hospital system speaks to the quality of the work.
“They do a good job, and it has become more of a personal relationship, too,” Faulk said. They have always taken care of our endoscopy center, which is a separate business that was never part of the hospital system. When we came back from the hospital system, we immediately called IronLogix to set up everything for us. They know what they’re doing and provide a good service.”
