Ambulatory Surgery Centers (ASCs) and other specialty hospitals and clinics have a unique set of challenges when it comes to IT infrastructure. They are significantly more complicated than a medical practice, with many of the same technology requirements as a full-blown hospital. Two examples of QSE's work are listed below:

A new, stand-alone ambulatory surgery center was being constructed by a large group of physicians. There were multiple software requirements, including arthroscopic image capture and storage, scheduling and workflow, case documentation, as well as back-office applications such as email, accounting and billing. QSE was hired as the "I.T. General Contractor," overseeing all of the non-medical IT system infrastructure, including cabling, server and redundant data storage, desktops and workstations, secure WiFi and broadband internet connectivity. The revenue dependency on the technology systems was upwards of $20,000 per day of delay, so the system had to be robust, well-designed and installed and configured on time.

Almost immediately QSE determined that no adequate space had been set aside within the facility for all of the technology systems, and we worked with the architects, developer and general contractor to help design and construct a secure space with sufficient power, cooling and security to house all the IT and telecom system hardware. All the IT systems came up working in 100% fashion, and the city's electrical inspectors commented that they had never seen such a big project be completed with no issues.

A mature ASC with an extensive caseload was experiencing significant issues with their technology systems. Administrative staff members were increasingly being tasked with handling day-to-day technology issues, and productivity and morale among both the clinical and the office staff were decreasing over time. It seemed like each month more time was being spent by the staff in dealing with ever-increasing maintenance issues.

QSE's assessment uncovered some deficiencies in hardware and workstation capabilities, based on the recommended specifications from the software vendor. QSE remediated those issues and set up a schedule of routine maintenance that significantly improved the day-to-day operations and freed up significant staff time to focus more on patient- and business-related activities.