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Alliance Member: Covisia (Formerly DeVA Systems Group)
Customer: Medical Healthcare Solutions

"If the applications we provision to our clients can't be accessed, we're simply out of business. But DeVA makes sure our network remains available 7x24 and is ready to handle increased client demands in the future. They play a critical role in the success of our company"
- Stephen Brighton, President and CEO of Medical Healthcare Solutions

About Medical Healthcare Solutions
Based in Andover, MA with a staff of 80 employees, Medical Healthcare Solutions (MHS) provides complete billing, practice-management and electronic-medical-record services to healthcare practices. The company ensures that all customer billing needs are met by integrating the latest technology with the expertise of the MHS staff. MHS has succeed in this mission as demonstrated by the fact that the majority of providers using MHS services when the company launched operations in 1991 still remain as clients today. This is largely because MHS continually monitors the market for cutting-edge technology to provide the most efficient services.

Key Benefits of DeVA's Managed Support Services

• Clients can consistently access billing, practice-management and electronic-medical-record applications 7x24—a mandatory condition for MHS to operate profitably.
• The MHS IT infrastructure is prepared for future growth to ensure high-levels of client services are maintained.
• The wide range of knowledge possessed by every member of the DeVA support team make it possible for MHS to receive fast responses to system emergencies all the time.

THE CHALLENGE
Medical Healthcare Solutions (MHS) realized it was time to find a new managed services provider. "The level of customer service provided by our partner at the time had dropped significantly," said Patricia Fay, Network Administrator for MHS. "When we called about a particular problem, our support company constantly referred us to someone else with the necessary expertise, and this caused major delays in getting problems addressed. We sometimes had to wait as long as four hours."

MHS provides billing, practice management and electronic-medical-record services to 40 medical practices that access their billing and practice management applications hosted by MHS via Citrix connections. So delays in fixing IT system problems cripple company and customer operations. If the MHS system goes down, MHS can't meet its contractual obligations to its customers.

"The application services we provide are the foundation on which the company is built," Fay said. "If our clients can't access their applications, we're basically out of business while our clients lose their ability to properly bill their patients. Downtime impacts all of us."

THE SOLUTION
Given the critical role played by their managed-support services company, MHS conducted a thorough search for a new partner. "We narrowed our choice down to three including DeVA Systems," Fay said. "They all possessed the technology expertise we needed."

But DeVA set itself apart in two crucial areas. "One of the competitors was too small," Fay said. "We felt we needed a partner like DeVA with a sufficient-size pool of support personnel since we needed coverage 7x24 on a variety or technologies. We also wanted to make sure we received immediate service so we would not run into delays because of a small support team."

The third competitor offered a support staff similar in size to DeVA, but DeVA packaged their services to meet the MHS business needs at a more economical price. "But what impressed us most about DeVA was the breadth of knowledge of their entire support staff," Fay said. "They demonstrated knowledge of our critical technologies such as Microsoft, Citrix, Novell and our firewall. DeVA also demonstrated that no matter who answers the phone when we call for help, that person can tackle the problem. We do not have to wait for a particular system engineer to become available."

After MHS chose DeVA to begin providing managed support services in December 2004, DeVA performed an IT Assessment at MHS location and created detailed documentation of all 11 MHS servers as well as the overall data center and overall IT infrastructure. This approach makes it easier for DeVA to provide phone and remote-support services when MHS calls for help. "The engineer who answers the phone has immediate access to our network infrastructure," Fay said. "We don't have to waste time answering basic questions."

THE BENEFITS
DeVA maintained an uptime monthly average of 99.9 percent for MHS during the first 12 months of their support contract. "We were so pleased with the services they provided and the technology expertise they demonstrated that we renewed our contract without a second thought," Fay said. "They have been an invaluable business partner since the beginning."

In addition to providing 7x24 emergency phone, remote and on-site help directly to MHS, DeVA also visits MHS client offices when there's a connection problem on the client's end. In addition, DeVA visits MHS every other week for maintenance check-ups and every six months for strategic planning.

"When we call with a problem, they usually resolve it remotely by taking over control of the server or desktop with the problem," Fay said. "Our involvement is minimal once we make the call. When we had a problem with a desktop impacted by a virus, DeVA assumed control remotely and fixed the problem within a few minutes."

Fay added that DeVA also helps resolve IT issues that fall outside of their contractual obligations. When MHS has an issue with one of their applications, DeVA often helps pinpoint and diagnose the problem so that the application support company can focus immediately on the problem. This saves MHS on troubleshooting time and resolves issues more quickly for MHS customers.

DeVA has also gone beyond maintaining operations for MHS by demonstrating the ability to plan for the future and how to take advantage of technological advances that can lead to competitive business advantages. "It's not always easy to know by how much our demand on client services might grow," Fay said. "But DeVA looks at our sales forecasts and makes sure we have enough computing capability and storage to meet future demands."

DeVA also showed MHS a more efficient method for providing services to its clients. "Based on DeVA's recommendations, we are considering switching over to a web-based Citrix Access Infrastructure," Fay said. "Rather than sending our clients a disc or having them download a program and then talking them through configuration, clients will be able to access our services over the Internet with a mouse click."

MHS president and CEO Stephen Brighton added to Fay's praises by saying, "It's impressive when your IT partner not only keeps your network running but also helps you change your way of doing business so you can remain competitive. We display their logo on our web site and often refer to their capabilities in sales presentations. DeVA's services are a large part of what we do for our customers."

ABOUT DeVA SYSTEMS
Established in 1993, DeVA Systems Group provides computing solutions and IT support services to organizations throughout New England. DeVA's success—and our clients' satisfaction - starts with their ability to combine a thorough understanding of their clients' businesses with a strategic focus on information access. DeVA's proven methodology delivers a more robust, secure and efficient IT infrastructure, improving business responsiveness while reducing complexity and cost.

ABOUT THISA
THISA is a national network of regional solution providers dedicated to providing a range of industries high-value solutions that reduce costs, improve confidence, and increase compliance. 

THISA helps its clients address today's critical IT issues and fulfill all IT infrastructure, security and compliance requirements. From strategic risk analysis to storage and continuity issues to entire enterprise infrastructure design, THISA offers the highest level of technical expertise and a strong commitment to its customers.