Retina Center of Vermont: Peace of Mind Through Reliable IT

Executive Summary

The Retina Center of Vermont is a specialized eye care practice where physicians rely heavily on technology to access electronic medical records, review diagnostic images, and provide timely care. Without dedicated IT staff, the practice would potentially face recurring technology challenges that could disrupt operations and consume valuable time. However, by partnering with VC3, the Retina Center of Vermont experiences reliable systems, proactive support, and patient care rarely compromised by IT problems.

Client Overview

Located in South Burlington, the Retina Center of Vermont provides advanced retinal care to its patients. Physicians and staff depend on uninterrupted access to patient records and imaging to make clinical decisions. Even brief outages or delays create real consequences for patients waiting for diagnosis or treatment. With no in-house IT department, practice administrator Aaron Mitton would be left to juggle technology responsibilities alongside managing operations. Having such limited internal resources underscores the need for a trusted IT partner.

Challenges

Mitton can easily become the “tech guy” by default, fielding vendor calls and troubleshooting problems outside his expertise. With a variety of day-to-day technology issues and special projects needed to help the Retina Center of Vermont stay up-to-date, Mitton has experienced quite a few challenges that would have been difficult to pull off by himself.

Key challenges included:

• No IT employee on staff: While Mitton serves as the IT point person and makes all purchase decisions for software and hardware, he needs help with day-to-day IT issues along with strategic technology planning.
• Keeping up with cybersecurity changes: Cybersecurity is always evolving, and an organization without IT staff would typically have trouble keeping up with the latest best practices to keep data protected.
• Maintaining networks and servers: Networks and servers need daily monitoring and maintenance—along with needed upgrades as hardware ages.
• Vulnerable EMR access: With patient records hosted in the cloud, reliable internet is the backbone of daily operations. Even a short outage risks cutting physicians off from the information they need during appointments.
• Vendor coordination burden: Communication and coordinating with vendors can become overwhelming. In one instance, the Retina Center of Vermont moved to a new standalone image-hosting platform but struggled with slow communication and problem resolution from the vendor.
• Outdated backups: Older recovery tools created doubt about whether patient records could be restored quickly enough to maintain continuity of care. Plus, evolving threats such as ransomware required a more robust data backup and disaster recovery solution.

Solutions

To resolve these issues, VC3 provides managed IT services and supplementary projects that improve reliability, reduce risk, and free Mitton from carrying IT on his shoulders.

• Foundational cybersecurity: VC3 provides essential cybersecurity protection to the Retina Center of Vermont including Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR), 24x7x365 Security Operations Center monitoring, cloud protection (including Microsoft 365 monitoring and alerting), phishing tests and security awareness training, dark web credential monitoring, email protection, web content filtering, and Microsoft 365 Multifactor Authentication (MFA).
• Strategic advising: VC3’s strategic advising helps the Retina Center of Vermont align technology with organizational goals while maximizing the value of its technology investments. A dedicated Strategic Advisor helps Mitton with annual IT planning, budgeting, and roadmaps—including assessing infrastructure and recommending solutions tailored to specific needs. “Without VC3’s managed services, I honestly wouldn’t know how to monitor day-to-day hardware/software needs and stats, and wouldn’t know how to appropriately plan for various projects,” Mitton said.
• Reliable access to patient records: Ever since electronic medical records became cloud-based, uninterrupted internet access became critical. VC3 installed a SD-WAN appliance to help keep the Retina Center of Vermont’s internet connections stable. If one provider goes down, service instantly switches to another, keeping physicians connected to patient records without disruption.
• Streamlined vendor management: In the case of the imaging platform, VC3 supported its deployment by providing specifications, assisting with rollout, and working directly with the vendor. By managing communication, VC3 removed Mitton from being the go-between with a historically slow provider, ensuring the platform was implemented smoothly and more reliably.
• Comprehensive IT support: A responsive helpdesk gives staff immediate access to support whenever issues arise, proactive monitoring and patching helps prevent problems before they interrupt patient care, and a redesigned ticket portal provides clear confirmation and tracking, allowing Mitton to see at a glance what’s in progress.
• Modern data protection: VC3 replaced the Retina Center of Vermont’s previous backup solution with one that is easier to manage, allows for faster recovery, and offers better ransomware protection. It includes both onsite and offsite backups along with continuous monitoring and periodic testing.
• Important infrastructure upgrades: VC3 stays on top of important infrastructure upgrades such as replacing network equipment, servers, and firewalls.

Results

The Retina Center continuously experiences improvements across its operations:

• Peace of mind: Mitton says, “The biggest benefit for me personally is peace of mind—and that peace of mind is due to productivity, security, good communication, and proactivity from VC3.”
• Responsiveness: Issues are caught early and handled quickly, with VC3 always there when the Retina Center of Vermont needs help.
• Nearly 100% business continuity and uptime: VC3’s daily monitoring and maintenance, along with periodic infrastructure upgrades, helps ensure continuity and uptime.
• Stronger EMR reliability: With automatic failover in place, the Retina Center of Vermont experiences better internet uptime. Critical applications stay online even if one internet provider fails, and systems benefit from improved bandwidth management and performance.
• Simpler IT requests: The redesigned ticket portal confirms issues immediately and provides visibility into progress. Mitton has a clear path for follow-up without having to inquire about updates.
• Reduced vendor burden: Instead of acting as the “telephone” between staff and software providers, Mitton can step out of the middle. VC3’s direct vendor coordination eases frustration and frees his time to focus on managing operations.
• Better data protection: Sensitive records can be restored quickly if a device failure or cyberattack occurs. These data backup safeguards minimize downtime and strengthen continuity of care, giving staff and physicians greater confidence that patient data is protected.

Touting the importance of a managed service provider, Aaron says, “When tech fails, as all tech does eventually, it is nice to know that someone is nearby who will give the problem their full attention. It allows us to continue to function as well as possible without also worrying that the problem isn’t being addressed at the root. My days would be a lot longer without VC3’s support.”

Looking Ahead

By partnering with VC3, the Retina Center of Vermont has the IT stability and support it needs to thrive. Today, the practice enjoys near-perfect uptime, seamless access to patient records, and the confidence that comes with knowing expert help is always available. Mitton can focus on what matters most: supporting his team and ensuring exceptional patient care.

Looking ahead, the Retina Center of Vermont is well-positioned to adapt to future technology changes and security challenges. With VC3 as a trusted partner, the practice can continue to grow and innovate, knowing its IT foundation is secure, scalable, and aligned with its mission to deliver timely, high-quality retinal care.