Do you sign Business Associate Agreements?

Yes. As a vendor with access to systems that may touch PHI, we sign a BAA as a standard part of onboarding. We also review the BAAs you have with your other vendors, EHR, practice management, backup, to confirm they match what those vendors actually do with your data.

How do you handle EHR uptime and downtime procedures?

We treat EHR access as a clinical requirement, not a convenience. That means monitoring, tested backup and recovery, and a documented downtime procedure your staff can follow if a system is unavailable, worked out in advance, not improvised during an outage.

Do you work with practices that have locations in multiple states?

Yes. We work with practices operating across Pennsylvania and into Maryland, and the standard we apply doesn't change by location. PHI protection, access control, and backup coverage are consistent across every site.

Can you help with a HIPAA risk assessment?

Yes. We review your environment against HIPAA's technical safeguard requirements, document where you stand, and help close the gaps that matter most. If you already have a compliance consultant or attorney handling the broader HIPAA program, we work alongside them on the technical side.

What happens if a former employee's access isn't revoked in time?

That's exactly the kind of gap that turns into a breach. We build offboarding into a documented process tied to your HR workflow, so access closes on the last day, not whenever someone happens to notice.

Can you help with cyber insurance questions?

Yes. Most insurance applications ask about controls leadership has never had to think about before. We translate the questions, review the environment against them, and help you answer with evidence instead of guesswork. If there are gaps, we'll tell you what they are and what it takes to close them. We also work with an insurance partner who specializes in cyber coverage - if you want additional options or a second set of eyes on the technical requirements, we can bring them in without replacing your existing broker relationship.

What is an IT Environment Review?

A real look at what you have - not a sales call. We look at what's working, what's falling behind, what's been missed, and what needs attention first. You leave with a clear picture of where things stand. What you do with that is up to you.

Healthcare

IT for healthcare practices where downtime is a patient safety issue, not an inconvenience.

EHR access, scheduling, telehealth, and patient records all depend on systems staying up and staying compliant at the same time. Most practices have grown past the IT support that was fine when the group was smaller, and the standard has to hold up to HIPAA, not just a service level agreement.

Schedule an IT Environment Review

The pattern

A network problem in healthcare is a patient care problem.

Most healthcare practices didn't design their IT environment. It grew alongside the practice. An EHR vendor who handled the initial setup, a part-time IT contact who kept things running, systems added as locations opened. It worked well enough until growth, an audit, or an incident made the gaps visible.

A system outage in most businesses is an inconvenience. In a practice, it can mean a provider can't access a chart, a scheduling system goes dark during patient hours, or a telehealth visit can't happen. Recovery time for the EHR and other clinical systems isn't just a downtime metric here. It's a patient-care matter.

HIPAA adds a layer most generalist IT providers underestimate. Business Associate Agreements, access logging, encryption at rest and in transit, breach notification timelines. These aren't optional add-ons. They're requirements with real penalties, and most practices have someone who assumes they're covered without anyone confirming it.

Multi-site and multi-state practices carry a second layer. A practice with locations in Pennsylvania and Maryland doesn't get to run two different standards. PHI protection doesn't change because a location crosses a state line, and neither does the expectation from patients, payers, or regulators.

Where we focus

What we manage for healthcare practices.

7 areas, swipe or use arrows

HIPAA-aligned identity and access

MFA, access reviews, and offboarding built around clinical staff turnover. Access closes the day someone leaves, not the week after.

Business Associate Agreements and vendor review

Reviewing what your EHR, practice management, and other vendors actually do with PHI, and whether the paperwork matches the reality.

Backup and recovery for clinical continuity

EHR data, scheduling systems, and patient records backed up and restore-tested with recovery timelines that account for patient care, not just data loss.

EHR and medical device network segmentation

Clinical systems, guest networks, and administrative systems separated so a problem in one doesn't put patient data or care delivery at risk in another. Medical devices and EHR-adjacent systems often carry much longer replacement cycles than standard IT equipment, driven by certification requirements and vendor lock-in, and get planned for on that timeline instead of a generic three-to-five-year refresh.

Audit-ready documentation

Access logs, encryption standards, and security configurations documented in a form that holds up when a payer, auditor, or regulator asks.

Vendor and EHR coordination

When your EHR or practice management vendor has an issue, there's someone who knows the full environment and drives the resolution. Not a practice manager stuck in the middle.

AI tool governance for clinical use

AI scribing, documentation, and administrative tools reviewed against your HIPAA obligations before they touch patient data, with an approval process the practice can actually enforce.

HOW WE WORK

One environment, held to a standard that assumes HIPAA is real.

A practice's IT problems don't stay in one lane. An access control gap is also a HIPAA exposure. An untested backup is also a clinical continuity risk. An EHR integration nobody reviewed is also a data flow nobody can account for during an audit.

We manage the full environment against a documented baseline, with HIPAA built into how identity, backup, and vendor access are configured, not treated as a separate checklist run once a year.

We work alongside your EHR vendor, practice management platform, and existing compliance consultant if you have one. We don't require you to replace vendor relationships that work.

For practices in Central Pennsylvania and practices with locations extending into Maryland, we apply the same standard everywhere the practice operates. PHI protection doesn't get weaker because an office is in a different state.

WHAT CHANGES

What looks different after the environment is under management.

Uptime is treated like a clinical requirement. EHR access, scheduling, and telehealth systems are monitored and maintained with patient care in mind, not just as line items on an SLA.
HIPAA has evidence behind it. Business Associate Agreements, access logs, and encryption standards exist as documentation, not assumptions someone made once.
Access closes when clinical staff turn over. Providers, techs, and administrative staff who leave are off every system the day they leave, not whenever someone remembers.
Backup and recovery are tested against real clinical impact. The answer to how long recovery takes exists before a ransomware event makes it urgent, and the plan accounts for what a practice actually can't run without.
Every location runs to the same standard. A second site or a location across the state line doesn't get a different level of protection.
AI scribing and documentation tools are reviewed, not just adopted. Tools your team is already using to save charting time may be sending PHI somewhere your BAAs don't cover.
This kind of gap stays invisible right up until it isn't. A former employee's credentials stay active. A backup assumed to exist fails during an EHR outage. A breach notification clock starts before anyone realized there was something to report. An audit, a payer, or an incident is usually what brings it into view.

Who we work best with

Built for healthcare that want IT held to a standard.

Something brought you here. If you're a privately owned company with 25 to 250 employees, headquartered in or operating across Central PA, you've probably outgrown whoever was managing IT before or something specific made the gap visible.

A strong fit

Medical, dental, behavioral health, and specialty practices with 10 to 150 staff
Multi-site practices, including those operating across the Pennsylvania and Maryland line
Practices that have outgrown a generalist IT provider who treats HIPAA as an afterthought
Leadership that wants documented evidence, not assumptions, behind their compliance posture

Not the right fit

Buyers shopping on rate alone
Companies that want a vendor to do only what they are told.
Organizations not ready to put security or standards in place.

In their words

Working with 3rd Element Consulting has been great since day one! Their team is so easy to work with and they're always responsive! Their flexibility has been essential in the ever-changing healthcare industry. Regardless, if your inquiry is for something basic or a more complex project, they are knowledgeable and helpful every step of the way!
Healthcare Client, multi-site PA & Maryland operations

Common questions

Questions leadership usually asks first.

Get a clearer view of your IT environment.

Find out what is working, where the risks are, and what needs attention next.