PEAKE TECHNOLOGY PARTNERS CASE STUDY: Potomac Physician Associates
Finding a Stable and Scalable IT Solution for Your Practice
Overview
From Uncertainty to Confidence
Potomac Physician Associates—referred to as PPA—is a thriving primary care practice serving in Bethesda, Chevy Chase and Germantown, Maryland. This physician-owned practice has entrusted PEAKE Technology Partners as their technical advisor and managed IT service provider. PEAKE’s level of expertise and thorough support provides the leaders at PPA with a confidence in their IT infrastructure that they had never enjoyed before.
Prior to partnering with PEAKE, PPA staff did not have a level of trust in their technology as they do now. An unstable IT configuration contributed to halted business operations 4-6 times per year. Staff members had become accustomed to frequent failings of office technology and delayed resolution from their existing IT support arrangement. This type of unstable environment had a negative effect on practice operations and growth. It was at this point that leaders at PPA decided their growth strategy required a more stable IT solution.
Problem
The Pain of an Unreliable Partner
Dr. Steven Schwartz, a partner and Chief Medical Information Officer at PPA, knew that the practice needed a more sustainable IT solution. Their existing IT contractor relationship was not producing timely or substantial resolutions.
Over the years, technical setup or support requests were addressed in fragmented solutions--patches here and there for isolated incidents. This approach accumulated an unnecessarily complex configuration that proved to be expensive and unreliable, especially when their main point of contact, the person with the most knowledge of their complicated IT configuration, moved on to another company. This move left them with serious vulnerabilities and pressure to find a more stable IT support solution that could easily scale with their growing business.
Dr. Schwartz and his team were now on the hunt for a proven MSP partner with the expertise and healthcare acumen to support their most critical systems.
"Things have never run better. I'm rarely putting out IT fires and don't have to lose sleep over IT issues."
Solution
Providing Peace of Mind
PPA’s CEO at the time discovered PEAKE Technology Partners as a Maryland MGMA event presenter. Intrigued by their unique approach and healthcare IT focus, the CEO introduced PEAKE to Dr. Schwartz and the rest of PPA's leadership. With all the uncertainty surrounding their IT infrastructure, the team began a thorough investigation to confirm PEAKE’s experience and capabilities. Their high standards for their critical systems ultimately resulted in a partnership with PEAKE.
PEAKE IT support engineers assessed the existing configuration and crafted a roadmap to address immediate needs with an eye toward requirements that aligned with PPA’s growth goals. This assessment provided options for Dr. Schwartz to choose a customized strategy toward tech efficiency, spelling out which actions must be done immediately, which should be done but can wait for better resources and timeline, as well as which would be ideal but not necessary for standard use.
The selected strategy began with moving to a stable and independent alternative for phone and internet connectivity. Next, a hybrid cloud solution for essential business software was established by making use of PEAKE’s private data center environment. The last step was ensuring a secure, off-site backup solution as an additional precaution for disaster recovery.
Moving into an MSP agreement, PEAKE has since provided peace of mind over these critical systems with 24/7 monitoring and helpdesk support from a team of experts. This relationship means that PPA staff have a single number to call for all tech support needs, including their NextGen EMR system.
Results
A Foundation to Scale a Practice
Since partnering with PEAKE in 2013, Potomac Physician Associations has experienced no major technology crises and has never been without PEAKE’s attentive assistance for day-to-day operations and strategic growth plans. Scaling over that time to three locations in Montgomery County and over 110 employees, PPA has benefited from the stable infrastructure afforded by PEAKE’s design and support expertise.
Dr. Schwartz and the other leaders at PPA consistently rely on PEAKE to ensure smooth operations and IT efficiencies as they continue to grow their practice.
For more information on IT efficiency for your medical practice, visit peaketechnology.com or call us at 866.37.PEAKE. Our team of Healthcare IT experts have perfected the PEAKE process to ensure our clients maintain seamless support from their technology and reliable technical support from our helpdesk.
Download the full case study here
About PPA
Potomac Physician Associates is a medical practice specializing in internal and family medicine for patients in Bethesda, Germantown, and Chevy Chase, Maryland. With our state-of-the-art facilities and capable, knowledgeable board-certified doctors, we are committed to caring for the whole patient. Learn more at ppa.md.
