You’re a small health care provider.
Maybe a rural hospital.
Maybe a behavioral health clinic.
Maybe a specialty outpatient center.
Your team might be 50–250 people. Your IT department? One person, maybe two or three — or even just a managed provider on-call.
Your organization is considered “small.” But your responsibility? It’s enterprise-grade — because HIPAA doesn’t scale down based on your organization size.
So why are most small health care organizations still using technology designed for small businesses — not health care?
Let’s walk through a licensing shift that most small health care leaders haven't been told about — and the opportunity it creates to reduce costs, cut redundant tools, and strengthen your compliance posture overnight.
🧠 Microsoft Quietly Changed the Rules for Small Organizations
Until recently, organizations with under 500 users could access Windows Enterprise and other enterprise-level Microsoft features through Volume Licensing Agreements.
It was complicated, expensive, and built for big companies — but possible. And orgs who knew they should be running Windows Enterprise were doing it.
That’s no longer the standard path — and for most small organizations, it’s no longer an option.
Organizations with under 500 users are no longer eligible for many of Microsoft’s legacy volume licensing agreements and are now directed to use the CSP model for Microsoft 365, Windows Enterprise, and other licensing needs.
As a Microsoft Cloud Solution Provider (CSP), visuaFUSION helps small health care organizations license Microsoft 365 directly — without enterprise minimums, and with nonprofit pricing when eligible.
Small organizations can no longer rely on traditional volume licensing. The most complete and accessible path to license Windows Enterprise, Microsoft Defender, management platforms like Configuration Manager, and compliance tools is through Microsoft 365 E3 or F3 via CSP.
This change affects nearly every small health care organization we’ve worked with — and most don’t know it yet.
💸 What You’re Paying For (That Microsoft 365 E3 Already Includes)
Most small health care organizations are paying separately for tools that are already built into Microsoft 365 E3:
🔒 App Whitelisting You're paying for a separate allowlisting tool. ✅ M365 E3 includes: AppLocker (Windows Enterprise)
🛡️ Antivirus & Endpoint Protection You're using a standalone antivirus or EDR platform. ✅ M365 E3 includes: Managed Defender with Configuration Manager, and Microsoft Defender for Endpoint
🔐 Device Encryption You might be manually enabling BitLocker — with no centralized control. ✅ M365 E3 includes: BitLocker management with policy enforcement and reporting (Half of compliance is being able to show it.)
🖥️ Device Management You're relying on a third-party platform — or in many cases, none at all. ✅ M365 E3 includes: Microsoft Configuration Manager and Microsoft Intune
📋 Compliance Reporting Manual tracking and spreadsheets, or outsourced compliance support. ✅ M365 E3 includes: Compliance Manager + audit-ready dashboards (A large part of compliance is being able to prove you're doing what you say you're doing — both now and historically.)
💡 If you're still running Windows Pro and managing these tools separately, you're not only overspending — you're adding time, complexity, and risk.
🏥 If You’re a Nonprofit or Rural Hospital, You Could Save Even More
Microsoft’s charity pricing program now includes many small health care providers:
- Critical access hospitals
- Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs)
- Behavioral health centers
- Other 501(c)(3) nonprofit clinics and care organizations
With visuaFUSION, these organizations can qualify for:
- Microsoft 365 E3 at $8.75/user/month (vs. $31.90 standard)
- Microsoft 365 F3 at $1.94/user/month (vs. $7.09 standard)
That’s over $275/year in savings per E3 user, and $61/year per F3 user — and it adds up fast.
For a typical small hospital with an attached clinic and long-term care — say, 150 users split evenly between E3 and F3 — the savings total over $25,000 per year. These are real numbers we see regularly with small health care clients.
What IT projects are currently on hold due to budget constraints — that this savings could immediately fund?
And that’s just licensing.
With Microsoft 365 E3 and F3, you also get:
- Microsoft Office desktop apps (E3) — no need to license Office separately
- Access to Windows Enterprise with features like AppLocker and centralized BitLocker control
- Built-in compliance and reporting tools to support HIPAA
- Integration with real-world management platforms like Configuration Manager — ideal for on-prem health care environments where full cloud control isn’t practical or preferred
- The ability to eliminate costly third-party tools: antivirus, encryption, policy enforcement, and even patch management
- Support for Microsoft technologies you’d otherwise have to license or manage separately
⚠️ Still using Google Workspace to cut costs? Now’s the time to reconsider. You could reduce total spend, gain better compliance tools, and consolidate platforms — and we’ll guide you through every step.
Many eligible organizations don’t even realize they qualify for Microsoft’s nonprofit pricing. We’ll help you verify eligibility, access the right licenses, and simplify the transition — without unnecessary disruption or red tape.
🛠️ Why visuaFUSION?
We’re not just a Microsoft partner. We're a Small Health Care IT Strategic Partner.
We work exclusively with small health care organizations — and our entire licensing strategy is built around your reality:
- Limited IT staff
- Strict compliance requirements
- Pressure to reduce risk and cost — simultaneously
What makes us different?
✅ We specialize in small health care ✅ We bundle in the right tools and setup help ✅ We negotiate pricing on your behalf ✅ We replace confusion with clarity
“We bring big health care’s bulk-negotiated pricing directly to small care organizations — and we fight for great rates on your behalf.”
No minimums. No upsells. No confusion. Just strategy and support built for your world. No one will fight to save your small health care organization money like visuaFUSION does. Let's work together today.
✅ Takeaways for Administration
If you’re part of your organization's leadership or compliance team, ask these questions:
- Are we still using Windows Pro across our desktops and laptops?
- Are we paying for third-party tools that Microsoft already includes in M365 E3?
- Do we qualify for nonprofit pricing — and are we taking advantage of it?
- Is our IT person or vendor manually piecing together compliance tools?
- Can we prove HIPAA compliance easily — or are we depending on spreadsheets and hope?
If you’re not sure — or if the answers raise concern — it’s time to reassess how your organization is licensed and protected.
✅ Plan Your Microsoft Licensing Strategy Today
With the right licensing model, you can:
✔️ Cut unnecessary spend ✔️ Strengthen compliance ✔️ Consolidate your tech stack ✔️ Protect your organization without overbuilding it
Let us help you do exactly that.
👉 Explore our Microsoft Licensing program
📧 Prefer to speak directly? Contact us: 📨 Email: info@visuafusion.com 📞 Phone: (308) 708-7490
📝 Want a downloadable tool-replacement checklist?
Contact us or visit our Microsoft Licensing hub — and we’ll send you a clear, side-by-side comparison of what you’re using vs. what you could simplify.
👉 visuaFUSION.com/MicrosoftLicensing
🧩 Interested in transitioning your organization to a shared-cost, fully managed environment — already built for small health care? Our HealthNet platform is a fully managed, enterprise-grade infrastructure tailored to the unique needs of small and rural health care providers.
You get:
- Centralized backups, encryption, and compliance reporting
- App control, patching, policy enforcement, ticketing system
- A standardized, hardened, secure environment ready to scale — with no guesswork or overbuilding
All with shared infrastructure costs, simplified support, and full HIPAA-aligned configuration — right out of the box.
👉 Learn more about HealthNet: visuaFUSION.com/HealthNet
* visuaFUSION is a Microsoft Cloud Solution Provider (CSP) specializing in small health care IT environments. Pricing current as of 4/1/2025.