Even in 2025, businesses in the healthcare sector rely on and often struggle to manage their print fleets. Issues with data security, wasted materials, poorly planned fleets, and more can end up costing your healthcare business in the long run.
If you're in need of a more optimized print strategy, here are five common roadblocks you could be dealing with in the healthcare industry and how to overcome them.
1. Protecting Patient Data
If you run a healthcare business, you likely already know the risks of data security breaches to your organization. Hackers target this industry, and most cyber breaches originate from devices connected to your network, or network endpoints.
For example, one way hackers could breach your network is through compromised microchips in toner cartridges. These toner cartridges tend to be off-brand, and their reprogrammable microchips can be injected with malware, allowing cyber criminals to get into your network via your printer.
One way you can mitigate this risk is by investing in print devices that are secure by design with Endpoint Detection and Response. Paired with traditional antivirus tools that recognize known malware patterns, EDR can detect never-before-seen attacks (or "zero-day attacks") and defend your device against them.
Physical Print Security Issues
Another way to reduce data security risk is by utilizing cloud printing software that requires active user intervention to retrieve print jobs. This reduces or eliminates abandoned or forgotten copies of sensitive records that often sit in print trays. These discarded documents put patient data at risk for exposure to unauthorized individuals - violating HIPAA regulations.
There are many tools and strategies to enhance data security and protection within your print environment. To learn more about printer security in healthcare and different printer security vulnerabilities, check out our article: Healthcare Data Breaches: Does Your Printer Put You At Risk?
You can also read about how to prevent data breaches in healthcare in our blog: Is Cybersecurity Really That Big of a Deal In Healthcare? How to Mitigate Data Breaches
2. Wasteful Printing
One of the biggest drains to your print budget is the prevalence of wasted consumables. Generated by overprinting or forgotten copies sitting in printer trays, waste can be hard to manage, track, or mitigate without the right tools.
One way to reduce waste and promote proactive printing is by using cloud printing software. This technology requires users to be physically present as jobs are printed, allowing for immediate retrieval. In addition, this software can help you track print jobs by department or user for purposes such as:
- Managing print fleet size to adhere to existing needs
- Analyzing key factors such as average monthly print volume, speed, and needs for color vs black and white capabilties
- Allocating print counts appropriately to each user or department depending on their typical print demands
- Creating a more eco-friendly print environment
Tracking these analytics can empower you to reduce waste and make the most of your print budget and devices. To learn more and compare two of the most popular cloud printing programs, read our blog: Comparing PaperCut and uniFLOW–What’s Best for You?
3. High Costs From Mismanaged Fleets
Not all businesses within the same industry have the same needs, and the healthcare sector is no exception. Big hospitals, small medical practices, and every business in between will need customized printer selections and fleet sizes to avoid either oversized or undersized fleets.
You can find the best solutions for print fleet management through consultiung with a managed print service for healthcare. These experts can offer insights into what to look for, and printing specialists will often do a full audit of your print environment.
From there, your managed print provider should help you construct a technology roadmap to properly manage your fleet long-term. These active and ongoing plans address needs such as:
- Device refreshes before end-of-life
- Regular software and firmware updates
- Continuous troubleshooting service packages for your chosen devices
- Leasing or financing plans
4. Faxing Challenges
Traditional faxing can get pricey, and automatic printing can put data security at risk. The extra steps involved in old-fashioned analog faxing can also create issues for efficiency when sending and receiving healthcare documents.
That's why many hospitals and healthcare businesses are moving to cloud faxing, which is compatible with analog fax systems as well. This technology takes the paper out of faxing, providing a greener and more secure way to collaborate.
Learn about how the FCC is phasing out traditional fax lines in our blog: Is Your Fax System End-of-Life? It May be in 2025
5. Limited Scalability
As your healthcare business grows, you might run into snags with getting new users set up with individual print drivers. Integrating new user accounts can often get confusing and time-consuming, which hurts efficiency and ultimately patient care.
It's crucial to foster healthcare interoperability, or the seamless integration of hospital communications, information management, and collaboration tools. Cloud printing is a great tool to foster interoperability since it can serve as a centralized printing hub for users to quickly and easily access, manage, and print documents when they need them.
Like other cloud tools, cloud print servers are easy to configure and add user accounts to. Not only does cloud printing ease collaboration - it can seamlessly grow with you as you bring on more staff. Learn more about healthcare interoperability in our blog: Healthcare Interoperability and How the Cloud Changes the Game
How To Find Medical Printing Services
Healthcare print management relies on many factors to achieve interoperability and exceptional patient care, including:
- Secure printing activities & security measures
- Efficient print queues
- Scalable, reliable print solutions
- Cost-effectiveness & waste reduction
If these sound like your goals, click the button below to speak to a print specialist about how to secure and optimize your healthcare print environment.
