Jay Simmons is responsible for the world — at least within the confines of Memphis Gastroenterology Group’s IT needs.

A five-year veteran at the 11-physician practice (which comprises a clinic, endoscopy center, and surgery suite), IT manager Simmons single-handedly runs a lean, mean technical machine, chock full of redundancies and fail-safes. And he takes pride in his work. “My name’s on it,” he says.

Simmons’ duties encompass keeping all of Memphis Gastro’s technical tools up and running, including the phones, practice management system, EMR, and both the on- and off-site data centers. He’s also responsible for hardware and software needs assessments, maintenance, upgrades, backups, disaster recovery protocols, and training. “If someone doesn’t know how to use a mouse, you just show them,” he says. “And if the VPN is malfunctioning, you fix that too.”

Someone like this, you want to keep happy.

Still, the relationship goes both ways, and you do have choices. Should you address your IT needs in-house, or would outsourcing work better for you? Whatever you decide, here are some ways to develop a strong, mutually beneficial connection between your practice and your favorite IT nerd.

A sound investment

These days, with even toasters housing microchips, the question is not if you need IT support. You might be pretty tech-savvy yourself — what practice management consultant Rosemarie Nelson calls a “physician enthusiast.” And maybe you really do know how to fiddle with your wireless router to make it work. But do you truly have the vision, time, and IT skills necessary to streamline all your technologies so the practice’s data and capabilities are available to the right staff, at the right place, at the right time?

This was exactly the problem at Memphis Gastro, says Simmons. “When I first started here, we had just a Unix system with the green screens that crashed on a regular basis,” he recalls. Also, the fax server was not working properly, and the staff needed training for its Microsoft products. Simmons addressed those problems first.

Having someone with broad-spectrum IT knowledge on staff can save you big bucks. For example, Simmons proved invaluable when the group went paperless. The practice administrator had already spent two years researching a replacement for the group’s antiquated practice management system and procuring an EMR. Simmons agreed with her choice, but after scrutinizing the proposed purchase agreement, he was aghast at the price tag. By eliminating many “bells and whistles they didn’t need,” he says, he “trimmed almost $500,000” off the purchase price. “That helped prove my worth right off the bat.”

Simmons also renegotiated the practice’s copier contract to lower its maintenance costs, and he re-outfitted the office with a new phone system. The initial asking price: $100,000. “We got it for $50,000,” says Simmons. “I worked it hard. I put in a lot of hours.”

A skilled in-house technical perspective can also help you avoid future headaches. Gateway Medical Associates, a multispecialty practice in Exton, Pa., went live with its integrated EMR and practice management system about a year and a half ago. Because the 28-provider practice already had a satisfactory practice management system, prevailing opinion in the office was to purchase just an EMR and “simply” interface it with the existing practice management software.

But Gateway Medical’s director of information services, Vince Carrigan, disagreed. Well aware of the yawning gap between “should interface” and “will interface” due to the current lack of an industry standard for exchanging patient data, Carrigan espoused a common vendor for the two software applications, even though it meant spending more money to replace something the practice already had. “I felt strongly about having an EMR and practice management system with the same company, because a version upgrade could happen at either end, and finger pointing could start,” he explains.

The practice’s CEO, Jim Rodgers, listened: “[Vince] convinced us, and because of his input we decided to spend the money.” They’ve never regretted their decision.

Hiring the Perfect IT Employee — A Checklist Hiring staff is costly and time-consuming, so finding the right person the first time is obviously a worthwhile goal. Make your practice attractive to candidates by offering the following: A competitive salary. Sorry, the pros in this field don’t come cheap. But the right person will greatly enhance your bottom line, helping you afford the extra cost. A well-defined scope of responsibilities. Where does your practice stand now in terms of technology? What are your goals? What are the unknowns? Opportunity for growth. No one wants to feel trapped in a go-nowhere job. Regular training. With the ever-upgrading nature of technology, be ready and willing to send your techie wherever she needs to go to stay current in her skill set. A listening ear. Assuming you’ve chosen well and don’t have a habitual naysayer or an ungrounded dreamer on your team, if your IT expert warns you that a proposed plan is flawed, or if she seems passionate about trying something new, take heed. An office. Your IT staffer will need to house spare equipment and have a private space that’s conducive to problem-solving.