How It Works | What’s Included | Service Strategy Pillars

Clinical Technology Field Support (CTFS) is WashU IT’s specialized clinical support service designed to keep technology running reliably in patient-care environments and equitably scale as needs change and evolve. CTFS provides proactive, responsive, and clinically focused support to minimize technology disruptions, improve clinic readiness, and address the technology needs of providers, staff, and patients. It combines rapid incident response with preventive maintenance, zone-based site assessments, and morning startup support, placing technicians in immediate proximity to high-volume clinical zones.

The CTFS Commitment

CTFS is built around a simple mission: keep clinicians focused on patient care by providing reliable, responsive, and proactive technology support. Through strategic partnerships with clinical departments, we will create a more stable and resilient clinical technology environment. 

How It Works

CTFS prioritizes patient-impacting technology issues and escalates them for rapid management and resolution. It operates through a combination of centralized triage and zone-based field technician support, supplemented by dispatching additional resources when needed.

Centralized Triage

  1. Priority Clinical Issue Response: Patient-impacting issues receive priority attention and are assessed for urgency and clinical impact when clinic staff or providers contact the Service Desk.
  2. Rapid Triage: Dedicated support staff quickly assess the issue and determine the most efficient resolution path. When needed, issues are coordinated with CTFS technicians and specialty support teams.
  3. Warm Transfer Process: For urgent or patient-impacting situations, callers may receive a live handoff to a clinical technology specialist to reduce delays and avoid repeated explanations.
  4. Zone-Based Field Support: CTFS technicians are assigned to geographic service zones and are dispatched based on clinical priority, urgency, and operational impact.

Scheduled Site Assessments and Zone-Based Morning Startup Support

CTFS technicians are situated in immediate proximity to high-volume clinical zones to proactively identify and address technology concerns before they disrupt clinical operations. They assess technology readiness, review workflow concerns, evaluate device health, identify recurring issues, and partner with clinic leadership to improve the overall technology experience.

What’s Included

WashU IT will guarantee issue resolution and seek additional help where needed for the included and fully supported service offerings listed below.

Included & Fully Supported

CTFS includes and supports all the features of the Basic IT Bundle for Schools and Departments. Additionally, WashU IT guarantees issue resolution and provides help, where needed, for the service offerings listed below:

  • Technology troubleshooting and incident response 
  • Clinical workstation support 
  • Troubleshooting printer and scanner software and connectivity (excludes hardware)
  • Credit card and payment device troubleshooting 
  • Technology Continuity Access (TCA) readiness support 
  • Site assessments and zone-based morning startup support
  • Device inventory awareness and lifecycle planning 
  • Coordination with centralized support teams 
  • Routine maintenance to proactively identify, mitigate, and remediate recurring technology problems  
What’s Not Supported or Included

While CTFS serves as a primary technology partner for clinical environments, some services remain the responsibility of specialized support teams. CTFS can assist with coordination and escalation when the following areas impact clinical operations, but ownership may reside with another support group. 

  • Enterprise application development 
  • Network engineering and infrastructure changes 
  • Facilities work orders 
  • Audio/visual installations and conference room redesigns 
  • Major technology construction projects 
  • Telecommunications provisioning 
  • Non-IT operational tasks previously performed by embedded clinic staff

Service Strategy Pillars

CTFS is designed as a continual improvement program that evolves beyond traditional break-fix support. The roadmap focuses on three strategic pillars: Respond, Prevent, and Improve.

Provide rapid clinical support when technology issues occur. Build a clinically focused support model with enhanced Service Desk triage, priority routing for patient-impacting incidents, warm transfers to clinical support specialists, regional zone technician coverage, faster restoration, and improved escalation coordination.

Reduce disruptions through ongoing site assessments, check-ins, preventative maintenance, and identification of risks before they impact patient care. Provide proactive monitoring, technology readiness reviews, workflow assessments, Technology Continuity Access (TCA) readiness validation, device inventory reviews, proactive patching, scheduled maintenance, device health monitoring, and dashboard visibility.

Strengthen clinical operations through partnership, analytics, reporting, and continuous service enhancement. Continue maturing CTFS services through a trusted strategic partnership with clinical leadership, regular service review meetings, workflow optimization recommendations, technology road maps, data-driven service improvements, Service Advisory Committee engagement, and strategic growth support for new clinical locations and initiatives.