Mathe Is Available When IRMS Needs Them — No Matter What
As the Executive Director of multi-location and active IVF medical practice, Art Poltrack has more important things to worry about than the organization’s IT.
The Institute for Reproductive Medicine and Science (IRMS) at St. Barnabas’ operates a staff of more than 100 employees, including eight MDs, across nine locations in New Jersey. Art oversees all non-clinical operations for IRMS.
In his ten years as Executive Director, Art has relied on Mathe to be available when he needs them to solve an IT problem, as well as provide ongoing guidance for the development and enhancement of their IT infrastructure.
Mathe Helps IRMS Scale Their IT With Their Business Growth
When Mathe and Art started working with IRMS, the organization worked out of just four locations. Over the past decade, that has grown to nine locations, along with more than double the staff.
As exciting as their continued growth has been, it presented new challenges for Art and their management team:
- How could they keep their employees at each location communicating and collaborating effectively with each other?
- How could they find a cost-effective IT solution for connecting their locations, without overextending their budget?
Mathe helped them every step of the way to ensure their IT infrastructure delivered the resources needed for their expanding operations and growing staff. In addition to helping them transition to an integrated EMR, Mathe also arranged for IRMS to get a direct line to their data center.
Their network used to run through the hospital’s network. Given how much work they do with the hospital, this arrangement made sense, but it also led to ongoing issues. Anytime the hospital network went down, so would IRMS’ network.
Mathe recommended that IRMS have their systems hosted in their data center, to which their nine locations would then have a direct line, insulating them against outages and other issues they were encountering with the hospital.
“We have a separate line right from our main office to our data center, and so, major IT events have been a rarity over the past few years,” says Art.
Mathe Keeps IRMS Secure & HIPAA Compliant
As a member of the healthcare industry, IRMS is subject to strict HIPAA compliance regulations, dictating the way they protect client medical data.
“It’s imperative that we’re HIPAA compliant at all times,” says Art. “The privacy of the information with which we deal is very important.”
In order to keep IRMS compliant, Mathe protects its hosted data with a range of cybersecurity solutions and controls. These multiple layers of defense give Art and the staff at IRMS peace of mind that they aren’t an easy target for cybercriminals, or at risk of a non-compliance fine.
“It’s set up with appropriate stops at the firewall and other security measures, such that only appropriate information is allowed into our system, and only appropriate information goes out of our system,” says Art. “It’s a continuous security assessment. Mathe is all over me, all the time, about security matters.”
Mathe Helped IRMS Go Remote Just By “Flipping A Switch”
“In the world of COVID, IRMS was able to switch to most people working remotely just by flipping a switch,” says Art. “It was faster than “overnight” because we had the hardware and software already in place.”
IT resources have never been as important as they are now during the COVID-19 pandemic. In order for organizations to stay connected and productive while working remotely, they need the right technologies and processes in place.
Unfortunately, due to how quickly the pandemic developed, many businesses were unable to prepare for the shift to a remote work setting.
Doing so would have required careful planning, methodical execution of new processes, and expert implementation of new technologies. Fortunately, IRMS had Mathe to help them make the switch to remote work.
“When we were forced to go remote due to COVID, it was a non-event,” says Art. “Mathe had recommended all of the hardware and software in place, well before it was needed. We wouldn’t be able to do what we do, and wouldn’t have been able to do what we did, without having the infrastructure in place.”
Mathe Equipped IRMS With VoIP Phones To Keep Their Locations And Remote Workers Communicating
One of the most significant ways Mathe helped with IRMS’ remote work transition was in implementing a reliable VoIP system.
“The fact that we have one phone system practice-wide has been a lifesaver,” says Art.
Prior to this VoIP solution, IRMS’ nine locations each had independent phone systems. These systems were in no way integrated with one another.
“About two years ago, we had separate phone systems at separate locations,” says Art. “We had disparate phone systems that didn’t talk to each other.”
Mathe recommended that IRMS switch to a VoIP system, which would seamlessly integrate all nine locations onto one communications platform. This allows remote workers to keep in touch from outside the office and makes it easier for staff members to switch from one location to another.
“Relatively painlessly, we switched to VoIP, and we have that phone system at each of our nine locations,” says Art. “The beauty of it is that, if you were working in one of our offices and you got assigned to work in another, when you went to your new office, you plug in your extension number and it becomes your phone.”
Mathe Is Available When IRMS Needs Help
“When I call Mathe, I get them on the line and I get an answer,” says Art.
This is the most significant quality of Mathe’s service for Art and the staff at IRMS. Art knows that whenever he has an issue, he won’t have to wait to have it addressed.
“They know that when I call them, I need them now,” says Art. “I don’t need a ticket or a resolution through the support desk.”
In one instance, Art was working from home at 4 AM on a Saturday morning. He encountered an issue but didn’t want to call Mathe directly. After all, it was early Saturday morning, and it could wait until Monday.
Instead of calling, Art sent an email about the problem and made it clear that a Monday morning resolution would be fine. Despite the time of day, and the seemingly unimportant issue, Art got a response within a minute or two anyway.
“They are available almost 365 24/7, and that’s the difference-maker,” says Art.
With over 35 years in the business of supporting and implementing technology for the SME market, and 6 years previously in Corporate IT and Voice. I have seen a great deal of change. The only common thread is I have always focused on the Business Wise application of Technology. We always try to look 5 years ahead of the current technology to make sure our clients are on the right track to meet current and future needs.
