The transforming role of ITSM in healthcare

As technology continues to advance, the healthcare industry is embracing significant changes to improve patient care and streamline operations. IT Service Management (ITSM) plays a pivotal role in this transformation, helping healthcare providers manage their IT services more efficiently. In this blog, we’ll explore the ways ITSM can reduce workload and enhance service quality. Discover how integrating ITSM with technology like AI can revolutionize healthcare delivery and improve outcomes for both patients and staff.

What is ITSM?

ITSM is all about handling and delivering IT services in the best way possible. It focuses on making your IT department run smoothly and efficiently, keeping in mind the needs of everyone involved—whether that's employees, patients, or suppliers. By prioritizing quality and responsiveness, ITSM ensures that IT services meet the expectations of all users.

The importance of ITSM in healthcare

In healthcare, ITSM can play a crucial role in improving efficiency, ensuring regulatory compliance (for instance, with GDPR and data security), and increasing patient satisfaction. ITSM relieves the burden on all staff, thus allowing them to focus on what matters most: delivering the best care.

Healthcare is a sector that relies heavily on technology, from electronic health records (EHRs) to advanced medical equipment. Even though IT is considered a support service, more and more processes will run through IT in healthcare—like all mobile devices and network coverage. AI is already making strong inroads into many services, but because of the increasing pressure on healthcare, it will be necessary to provide proper support for AI so that people can work more efficiently and faster.

Gone are the days when the IT person was just there to fix printer issues or install updates. Now, they need a broad range of skills and support from ITSM tools to keep everything running smoothly. ITSM tools help automate simple, repetitive tasks and integrate with other systems to provide new insights and prevent problems. For example, discovery tools can scan your network and automatically add new assets to your ITSM tool, while other tools can track and update the locations of your assets.

All these efforts aim to improve care and reduce stress within healthcare organizations, ultimately boosting satisfaction for both patients and staff.

Benefits of ITSM in healthcare

Efficiency in hospitals

ITSM solutions help hospitals better manage incidents and requests, significantly reducing response times for IT issues. This leads to quicker resolutions and improved operations.

KCS – knowledge centered service or knowledge management

By documenting common or recurring calls in a standard solution or knowledge item, ITSM not only reduces the number of incoming tickets, but also resolves them much faster. This allows staff to focus on more complex questions and tasks.

Improved patient care

Optimizing EHR systems with ITSM allows physicians to access patient records more quickly and easily, significantly improving the overall care to patients.

Regulatory compliance

ITSM helps healthcare organizations track changes, manage risk assessments, and ensure data security, which is crucial for complying with strict healthcare regulations. This ensures that an organization meets all necessary legal requirements and maintains high standards of data protection and cybersecurity.

The rise of AI in healthcare

One of the most exciting trends in healthcare is the integration of artificial intelligence (AI). AI has the potential to dramatically change the way we deliver care. From diagnosis and treatment to administrative tasks, AI can improve a wide range of processes.

AI and ITSM: a powerful combination

When AI is integrated with ITSM, healthcare organizations can benefit from an even higher level of efficiency and effectiveness. Here are some ways AI and ITSM can work together to improve healthcare:

Predictive analytics

AI can be used to analyze large amounts of data and identify patterns that indicate potential problems. For example, integrating AI into ITSM systems can allow organizations to predict when certain systems are likely to experience failures and take preventive action before issues occur. This not only increases the reliability of critical systems but also reduces downtime and improves overall efficiency.

Automation of routine tasks

AI can automate routine IT tasks, such as password resets and system updates, allowing IT personnel to focus on more strategic tasks. This leads to faster solutions for end users and increases satisfaction among healthcare providers.

Improved service desk

Omnichannel support and AI-powered chatbots can be deployed to answer common questions from healthcare providers and patients, reducing pressure on the IT service desk. The reduced amount of work spent on these repetitive tasks can clear up more time and energy for addressing complex issues. This also results in faster response times and a better user experience.

Advanced data analysis

AI can help analyze vast amounts of medical data to provide insights that would otherwise be difficult to obtain. With AI-driven data analysis in your ITSM system, you can make more informed decisions about your IT strategies and investments. This leads to more focused and effective deployment of IT resources.

Trends in ITSM and healthcare

In addition to the integration of AI, there are other trends affecting ITSM and healthcare:

Remote care and mobile health apps

The rise of remote care and mobile health apps has changed the way care is delivered. ITSM plays a critical role in supporting and managing these technologies. With the rise in remote care, ITSM processes need to adapt to support the unique requirements of these technologies. The digital consultation with your doctor is becoming more and more commonplace and will also contribute to working more efficiently for the healthcare industry.

Cybersecurity

Given the sensitive nature of medical data, cybersecurity is a top priority in healthcare. ITSM helps manage security protocols and ensure regulatory compliance. The NIS 2 guidelines, which took effect on 17 October 2024, bring many challenges for all organizations, as you need to take measures to manage network and information system security risks and prevent incidents.

Internet of Medical Things (IoMT)

The use of connected medical devices is increasing, creating new challenges and opportunities for ITSM. With the increase of IoMT devices, ITSM processes need to expand to effectively manage these new technologies. This includes managing device maintenance, tracking device locations and ensuring the security of connected devices.

TOPdesk: simplifying ITSM in healthcare

ITSM plays a crucial role in the modernization of the healthcare industry. By working more efficiently, improving patient care and complying with regulations, healthcare organizations can perform better and provide higher quality care. Integrating AI with ITSM opens up even more possibilities, from predictive analytics to the automation of routine tasks, leading to improved efficiency and user experience.

Trends in healthcare, such as telehealth, cybersecurity and the Internet of Medical Things (IoMT), are placing new demands on ITSM while providing new opportunities for innovation and improvement. Organizations that embrace these trends and technologies can get ahead by adapting and optimizing their ITSM strategies.

By investing in the right ITSM solutions and technologies, you can prepare your organization for the future of healthcare. Want more information about how TOPdesk’s ITSM solution helps healthcare organizations deliver the best care possible? Check out our healthcare page and read about our customers’ success stories!