Managed IT services for healthcare: How to secure patient data and stay compliant

For healthcare organizations, technology is their circulatory system for data. It keeps patient info in constant motion through clinical workflows and regulatory obligations.

From EHR records to telehealth visits, reliable IT makes the difference between timely, accurate care and costly delay.

The playing field, however, shifts by the quarter. Cyber-threats multiply, rules get tighter, and clinicians demand tools to lighten their workloads. This 2025 guide to managed IT for healthcare maps the territory—security, compliance, and day-to-day operations—so your org can focus on delivering outstanding care every time a patient walks through your (virtual or literal) door.

The role of IT in modern healthcare delivery

Healthcare operations depend on complex tech infrastructure that goes far beyond basic computing. Today's healthcare IT encompasses clinical systems, electronic health records (EHRs), telehealth platforms, security frameworks, mobile device management, and comprehensive support services.

IT serves as the critical connection point between clinical operations (direct patient care), administrative functions (billing, scheduling, resource management), and regulatory requirements (HIPAA, HITECH compliance). This interconnected system enables:

• Continuity of care across different providers and facilities
• Data-driven treatment decisions based on complete patient histories
• Digital transformation initiatives that improve both outcomes and efficiency
• Protection of sensitive patient information throughout its lifecycle

Data sharing makes collaboration between departments and specialties better. With instant access to medical records, lab results, and imaging, care teams coordinate more smoothly. This boosts both the speed and accuracy of patient care.

Unlike in many industries where IT downtime means inconvenience or lost revenue, in healthcare it can directly impact patient safety and care delivery. Systems need to be reliable, secure, and compliant at all times—making IT management a particularly high-stakes responsibility.

The IT challenges healthcare providers face today

Healthcare IT environments demand rapid response to a complex set of risks.

1. Cybersecurity risks in healthcare

Healthcare is one of the most targeted industries for cyberattacks.

• In 2024, 92% of healthcare organizations surveyed reported experiencing at least one cyberattack, with the average number of attacks per organization reaching 40
• The healthcare sector had the second-highest number of data breaches in 2024, just below manufacturing, according to Verizon's 2025 Data Breach Investigations Report

Data breaches as a result of these can have dire consequences. Sensitive patient information, such as medical histories, insurance records, and personal details, is particularly valuable on the black market. This makes providers prime targets for ransomware, phishing, and malware.

This can get seriously expensive: the average cost of a healthcare cybersecurity compromise is $4.74 million. Patient data breaches carry severe compliance penalties alongside reputational damage, which adds costs onto the potential ransoms paid to criminals who hold systems hostage.

With attackers using AI-powered techniques to exploit multiple vulnerabilities simultaneously, protecting healthcare infrastructure has never been more challenging or essential.

2. Strict compliance requirements

Healthcare organizations need to navigate a complex web of regulations designed to protect patient information. And when they aren’t followed, costs mount up.

• HIPAA mandates strict standards for patient health information (PHI) protection
• The HITECH Act strengthens HIPAA compliance and promotes EHR adoption (also includes the Breach Notification Rule, requiring organizations to notify patients and the HHS in the event of a data breach)
• State-level data protection laws add additional layers of compliance requirements—for example, California’s Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) can impose fines of up to $7,500 per violation, potentially costing millions in a large breach
• General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) applies to organizations handling EU citizens' data—one hospital in Portugal was fined €400,000 (about $430,000) for violations

Failure to comply can result in severe penalties, reputational damage, and loss of patient trust. Non-compliance is both a legal and existential threat to healthcare providers.

3. Legacy infrastructure and system fragmentation

Many healthcare providers still operate on outdated, unsupported systems or patchworked tech solutions.

In fact, around 7 in 10 healthcare providers still rely on at least one legacy operating system like Windows 7 or XP.

Paper-based processes often coexist alongside digital systems. Communication between different players in healthcare—doctors, patients, hospitals, pharmacies—remains fragmented despite years of digital transformation efforts.

Interoperability issues between EHR, billing, imaging, and other clinical systems create friction in workflows and patient care.

Legacy systems may lack security patches or be incompatible with modern security tools and healthcare delivery models. Each isolated system represents a potential security vulnerability and barrier to delivering coordinated care.

Perhaps most concerning is the growing technical debt that makes modernisation increasingly difficult. It’s not an easy problem to solve; the complexity and responsibility involved means that change processes are really high-stakes.

4. High expectations for uptime and availability

It hardly needs explaining why nobody wants healthcare systems to go down. There are several consequences:

• IT downtime delays treatment, affects patient safety, and erodes trust
• Unplanned outages or slowdowns during critical hours can halt clinical workflows, delay diagnoses, and jeopardize patient safety.
• The average cost of downtime in the healthcare industry is $636,000 per hour, according to one analysis

The increasing complexity of IT environments means there’s a growing number of points of failure. When things go wrong, people expect support to be fast, around-the-clock, and often on-site (or at least be able to dial in remotely).

5. Supporting distributed care environments

It’s not just IT support that might be working remotely—it’s the entire administration, research and patient-facing staff.

Healthcare delivery has expanded beyond hospital walls:

• There are around 3,000 mobile health clinics operating across the US, delivering about 10 million visits a year—they need reliable and secure systems
• 70 % of hospital IT professionals now work remotely at least part-time, according to one survey
• Global telehealth revenue grew 29% in a single year—these platforms need connectivity, privacy, and reliability
• Wearable medical devices and remote monitoring systems generate continuous data streams
• Remote physicians and consultants need secure access to patient information, as well as secure mobile devices and connections, so endpoint security is super important

That’s a huge network of data-processing devices transmitting bits and bytes across the world. Making them all work together—safely and by the book—is not a simple job.

Managed IT services in healthcare: Key capabilities and technologies

With those five hurdles to face, how can healthcare firms manage? Highly capable technology, smartly integrated with existing operations, is the way. These are the IT services we’d call ‘essential’ for today’s providers.

1. Healthcare-grade cybersecurity

In 2025, healthcare-grade cybersecurity needs a multilayered approach. This means combining advanced technologies, rigorous compliance protocols, and continuous adaptation to threats.

For spotting those threats, AI-powered behavioural analytics can identify unusual patterns that might indicate a breach. And advanced endpoint protection systems can identify threats in milliseconds, preventing breaches before they occur.

All communications containing PHI must be encrypted both in transit and at rest. Build compliance-focused incident response protocols so that when incidents do occur, they're handled according to regulatory requirements. (If this sounds difficult, managed IT can do it for you.)

Network security needs a zero-trust architecture that treats every access attempt as potentially malicious until proven otherwise. “Never trust, always verify” for every user, device, and app trying to gain access

Managed IT services provide this vital layer of protection for both patient data and the reputation of healthcare providers. In fact, more than half of healthcare orgs plan to increase cybersecurity spending in 2025.

2. HIPAA-compliant IT infrastructure

The updated HIPAA Security Rule (SP 800-66 Revision 2) mandates that healthcare organizations maintain audit-ready incident response plans. They have to have specific protocols for ransomware, data exfiltration, and device tampering.

While regulations get complex, tech makes adherence to critical regulations at scale possible. You can benefit from:

• Audit-ready logging of all system access—who accessed data, when, from which device/IP address, and what actions they took
• Data lifecycle controls from creation through secure disposal
• Access restrictions based on role and need-to-know principles, with tools like MFA and auto log-offs
• Secure backup systems with encryption and geographic redundancy

HIPAA’s backup requirements focus on availability and integrity, mandating daily & weekly full backups stored in geographically redundant facilities. There are plenty of rules like these, which is why many healthcare firms choose to have adherence handled by a managed IT service.

3. 24/7 helpdesk and infrastructure monitoring

Healthcare never sleeps, and neither should IT support.

Support has to be round-the-clock, and based on strict SLAs with guaranteed response times. You’ll need clear escalation paths for critical issues, too—from basic issues to errors to full system failures or cyberattacks. Many fixes will have to be done on-site, but remote capability can be much more efficient in certain scenarios, so it’s a must.

Staying reactive isn’t a great way to operate. Instead, healthcare providers should be proactive, using the latest monitoring systems to spot potential problems before they appear. Just like you’d monitor a patient’s health, system health needs to be watched too.

4. EHR and clinical system support

Electronic health record systems are the heart of modern healthcare operations. They need to be integrated safely with all major platforms like Epic, Cerner, and Meditech. They need to communicate with billing, imaging, and telehealth platforms, so data isn’t siloed.

That said, it has to be done safely. Managed IT services can handle integration, updates, and uptime—the trifecta of clinical system support, directly impacting care delivery and compliance.

Modern systems can:

• Secure updates and maintenance to minimize disruption
• Optimize for performance and usability
• Integrate with other clinical and administrative systems
• Handle data migration and archiving

A managed service provider with healthcare experience will understand the critical nature of these systems and can provide specialized support.

5. Cloud and hybrid environments for healthcare

Cloud platforms have become essential for modern healthcare organizations. These environments let providers store sensitive data securely while supporting distributed care teams and disaster recovery needs.

HIPAA-compliant cloud drives can encrypt data at rest and in transit. Platforms like Microsoft Azure and Google Cloud offer healthcare-specific configurations with audit-ready access logs and geographic redundancy.

Hybrid and multi-cloud models let hospitals keep critical systems like EHRs on-premises while using public clouds for analytics or other productivity workloads.

And multi-location support thrives in hybrid environments. Clinics can use cloud scalability to manage patient influx during emergencies for example, while mobile clinics can use edge computing for real-time data processing with no lag.

All of this can be done while maintaining compliance with healthcare regulations—although that’s a task well-suited for managed IT services. They focus on secure migration and ongoing management of cloud resources, making life easier for in-house professionals.

More than 80% of healthcare executives say they have apps deployed on the public cloud—is your organization next?

6. Device and asset lifecycle management

Healthcare organizations juggle multiple device types across various care settings. Laptops, tablets and phones make up a major portion of these, and they all have to be managed safely.

It’s more than just procurement that needs oversight. The lifecycle management of clinical endpoints means devices stay secure, compliant, and working throughout their lifespan. For healthcare organizations, this means controlling every phase: provisioning, setup, tracking, and secure retirement.

New devices need loading with healthcare-specific security protocols before deployment. This can include encrypting storage, installing HIPAA-compliant software, and applying role-based access controls. They’ll also need ongoing maintenance and updates.

Managed IT services offer zero-touch deployment, reducing setup time compared to manual processes. Proper device lifecycle management reduces security risks while helping workers benefit from useful gadgets.

7. Support for telehealth and patient engagement platforms

Digital is becoming an increasingly important way to deliver care.

While you want systems to be user-friendly for the patient, there’s a lot happening on the backend to make this possible.

Keeping them reliable and secure is important, of course. You also want them to integrate with clinical workflows, often needing specialized IT support tailored to healthcare.

For patient portals, remote consultation systems, and virtual care tools, managed IT can provide:

• Uptime monitoring
• Security controls
• Technical support
• Integration with EHR and scheduling systems
• Compliance verification

The future of patient care is connected. With a growing ecosystem of devices and capabilities, healthcare organizations will need more and more help managing it all.

Technology trends reshaping healthcare IT in 2025

We’ve seen that managed IT can handle a fairly complex set of needs.

With the core managed-service capabilities in place, healthcare organizations can now turn their attention to the next wave of innovation. The foundations that keep today’s systems humming form the launch-pad for tomorrow’s “smart hospital” tech stack—one that promises leaner operations, safer care and genuinely engaging patient experiences.

Below are the headline trends we see defining healthcare IT in 2025 and beyond.

• Artificial Intelligence (AI): AI is making waves in healthcare operations. It's helping reduce clinician burnout while enhancing diagnostic accuracy. Algorithms can identify patterns in medical images that human eyes might miss, potentially detecting conditions earlier and more accurately. Generative AIcan create customized patient education materials based on their needs and health literacy levels. In clinical settings, these tools can assist with documentation by generating draft notes from recorded patient encounters. They also help analyze unstructured data from medical literature, identifying relevant information for clinical decision-making. The possibilities are endless—but human oversight is important.

• Robotic Process Automation: Digital workers are becoming part of mainstream operations. A Q2 2025 survey found that 21 % of provider organizations already run RPA bots in at least one billing step, and 83 % expect to expand to denial management and prior authorisation by 2026. Beyond finance, hospitals are automating supply ordering, bed-board updates and even discharge summaries, freeing staff for higher-value tasks.

• Interoperability standards and API-driven connectivity: Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources (FHIR) is the global standard for moving healthcare between systems. US rules formally mandate FHIR APIs from 2026 onwards, while the UK’s NHS England has rolled FHIR into its National Patient Information Standard. 84% of surveyed EHR vendors have FHIR-ready endpoints, while almost 70% say the standard has led to better information access.

• IoT and Remote Patient Monitoring (RPM): Connected devices are moving care beyond hospital walls. In England, the NHS virtual ward program is now tracking more than 10,000 patients a day at home with apps, wearables and other medical devices. The global RPM market is forecast to be worth $57billion by 2030. Smart implants and wearables stream continuous data back to clinicians, but they also widen the attack surface—making device inventory, zero-touch patching and encrypted telemetry important.

• Zero-trust security models and compliance automation: Zero-trust is growing in popularity in healthcare. Zscaler’s “Zero Trust Hospital” framework suggests it’s a financial and technical imperative. With so much at stake when it comes to medical data, the ‘trust no connection unless explicitly allowed’ model is badly needed.

• Patient-centered digital experience platforms: The ‘digital front door’ is how most patients first interact with their provider. Health systems are shifting from one-size-fits-all portals to hyper-personalised experience layers that blend appointment booking, secure chat, wearable data and payment in a single app.

What modern IT support looks like with Deel IT

Healthcare organizations worldwide rely on Deel IT to keep their technology running smoothly and securely. Here’s why:

• Global device procurement & deployment: Ship, configure and support equipment anywhere your clinicians work, from flagship hospitals to pop-up vaccination sites.
• Regulation-ready by design: Built-in alignment with HIPAA, HITECH and other healthcare mandates means fewer compliance headaches.
• Follow-the-sun service desk: True 24/7 coverage, so critical systems stay online whatever the time-zone.
• Secure device management and monitoring: Real-time visibility and control for every clinical or administrative endpoint.
• Seamless integrations: Plug straight into your HR, EHR and other core platforms for friction-free workflows.

Ready to re-imagine how your organization handles IT? Book a demo today and discover the Deel IT difference.