Rethinking RMM for Healthcare IT: What IT Teams Actually Need

Healthcare IT doesn’t get the luxury of single-purpose tools or well-staffed teams. From patching systems to preventing compliance violations to supporting critical care applications, these teams are under relentless pressure to deliver, while being short on time, staff, and budget.

Most mid-sized healthcare organizations run lean. A few IT staffers are tasked with keeping hundreds of endpoints functional, compliant, and secure, all while handling support tickets, printer meltdowns, and legacy systems that still power essential clinical workflows.

But here’s the real gap: Most Remote Monitoring and Management (RMM) tools weren’t designed for these environments. They were either built for massive enterprise deployments with dedicated admins per function or aimed at generalist use cases that don’t address healthcare-specific pain points.

That’s where a tool like Level makes a measurable difference.

What Healthcare IT Teams Actually Face Day-to-Day

Before we talk about features, let’s talk about context. Most of the healthcare IT leaders we’ve spoken with describe the same core challenges:

• Security and compliance are constant concerns, not occasional checkboxes. HIPAA, HITECH, and state-level mandates require airtight documentation, not just best-effort practices.
  
• Uptime isn’t negotiable. Downtime disrupts care, delays discharges, and affects everything from billing to diagnostics.
  
• The tech stack is a Frankenstein mix of on-prem servers, cloud applications, aging Windows devices, and medical hardware.
  
• IT teams are often two or three people supporting hundreds of endpoints, many with limited automation in place.

A 2023 report from CHIME found that 71% of healthcare IT leaders cited staffing limitations as their biggest challenge, and over 60% struggled to balance security with operational efficiency.

That means your RMM tool can’t just be powerful; it has to be practical.

1. Security and Compliance: Not Just a Checkbox

HIPAA doesn’t give you room for error. Breaches aren’t just costly (average breach costs in healthcare hit $11 million in 2023, per IBM), they erode patient trust and lead to lasting reputational harm.

Yet many legacy RMM platforms offer weak access control, lack audit-ready logging, or hide key security features behind pricey upgrades.

What actually works:

• Role-Based Access Control (RBAC) to prevent unnecessary privilege escalation
• Activity logs with technician accountability, down to the click
• Remote access sessions that are encrypted, logged, and traceable
• Patch compliance tracking, not just patch availability
• Custom alerts for non-compliant software or unauthorized installs
• Provider-level compliance built in, not left to the customer to figure out

If you're using an RMM in a HIPAA-regulated environment, the tool itself must support compliance.

Level is HIPAA-compliant and maintains a current SOC 2 Type II certification.

We also sign Business Associate Agreements (BAAs) as required, making it easier for healthcare IT teams to meet their legal and operational obligations without jumping through legal hoops.

Level offers these features in an accessible way, without complex onboarding, premium licenses, or bolted-on modules. For healthcare IT, this means no compliance gaps, and no extra work to close them.

2. Endpoint Monitoring That Works in Mixed Environments

Healthcare IT doesn’t manage a standardized fleet. You’re dealing with everything from modern laptops to ten-year-old imaging workstations. And often, clinics have thin bandwidth or flaky VPN connections.

If your RMM can’t handle inconsistent check-ins or remote access over low-quality links, it’s a liability.

Look for:

• Lightweight agents that won’t tax older machines
• Reliable remote access with reconnect logic
• Heartbeat monitoring with actionable alerts, not noise
• Visibility into critical systems like EHR workstations or imaging devices

Level’s architecture was built for environments like these. Agents are efficient, remote sessions stay connected, and monitoring rules can be customized by endpoint type, so you’re not flooded with false alarms or missing critical issues.

3. Automation: The Real Multiplier for Small Teams

Here’s the quiet truth: most healthcare IT teams don’t lack expertise; they lack hours in the day.

The best way to stretch capacity is to automate what doesn’t need human hands:

• Scheduled reboots and updates during off-hours
• Silent agent deployments across new devices
• Custom scripts for EMR reinstalls, printer fixes, or user profile cleanups
• Automated alerts with conditional logic (e.g., notify only if a critical service fails and doesn’t restart in 2 minutes)

Level’s scripting and automation capabilities are built with clarity and reusability in mind. You don’t need to be a PowerShell guru, and your team doesn’t need to reinvent the wheel every time a printer driver fails.

4. Reporting That Actually Helps With Leadership and Audits

Reporting shouldn’t be a chore. If your RMM’s reports are bloated PDFs or take a week to configure, they won’t be used or trusted.

What healthcare IT needs:

• Patch status reports that show trends and compliance gaps
• System uptime logs, especially for clinical workstations
• Technician activity history, for both oversight and internal reviews
• Clear documentation of backup jobs and endpoint inventory

Level’s reporting is fast, readable, and exportable. This helps IT managers communicate with leadership, prepare for audits, and guide capital planning. When you can show clear data, your requests for budget or staffing have weight.

5. No Vendor Lock-In or Hidden Costs

Healthcare budgets are scrutinized line by line. Hidden costs, premium modules, and forced contract renewals are non-starters.

With Level:

• Transparent pricing is table stakes. No extra fee for remote access, scripting, or reporting.
• No long-term contracts or multi-year lock-ins.
• No performance tax on endpoints. Lightweight agents mean old workstations stay usable.

If a solution saves time but breaks budgets, it doesn’t help. Level is built to deliver value without nickel-and-diming small teams.

6. Why Healthcare IT Teams Replace Their RMM

When a healthcare org makes a change, it’s usually not a vanity swap, it’s a necessity. Here’s what typically triggers a switch:

• Missing compliance features or inability to pass audit requirements
• Remote access failures that slow down patient care
• Support that can’t answer basic technical questions
• Overpaying for features the team doesn’t use
• No automation support for clinical workflows

Level gets selected not just for features, but for fit. It’s engineered to meet the operational realities of healthcare IT, not an idealized version of it.

The Decision-Makers Behind RMM Selection in Healthcare

In mid-sized orgs (50–500 employees), the key player is the IT Director. They’re responsible for aligning tools with compliance and operational needs. They care about:

• Visibility
• Audit readiness
• Efficiency

But they’re also the ones fielding user complaints, chasing uptime reports, and dealing with patch failures. Their team, including sysadmins, support techs, and even EMR specialists, must live in the tool daily. If it’s too bloated, too slow, or too restrictive, it won’t stick.

Level is built for that balance: powerful enough for the director, fast and usable for the team.

Built for Healthcare IT, Without the Bloat

There’s a reason so many healthcare IT teams tolerate poor RMM experiences: switching can feel risky. But the cost of staying with a bad tool is higher, including wasted hours, missed alerts, compliance gaps, and burnout.

Level was built for the way real IT teams work:

• Fast onboarding
• Clean UI
• No fluff features
• Automation-first
• Designed to scale with your needs without locking you in

If your RMM creates more problems than it solves, it’s time to rethink the standard.