Why This Healthcare MSP Moved Every Client to One Security Standard
with Stuart Millington, Chief executive, Bluebird IT, Mandurah, Western Australia. Runs a healthcare-focused managed service provider (MSP) serving general practices, aged care and the wider medical industry
Stuart Millington runs Bluebird IT, a healthcare-focused managed service provider (MSP) in Mandurah, Western Australia. Bluebird started with three pricing tiers, went down to two, and ended with one set of security standards that every client follows. When he told clients "this is our price, this is what it is," the ones who came back to him simply said: okay, I understand.
About 85% of his clients are in healthcare, and the person Bluebird works with day to day is the practice manager, who takes pressure from doctors, owners, receptionists and patients. Stuart explains how his team takes vendor problems off their plate, how a traineeship in Broken Hill led to an MSP of his own, and the accountability group where things took off. He also shares why clients now tell him they found Bluebird on ChatGPT and Claude, and why his long-term goal is a business one of his children can take over.
What we cover
- Moving from three pricing tiers to one security standard every client follows
- When healthcare became the rule, and the finance, recruitment and arborist clients who stayed
- Why the practice manager is the linchpin, and dealing with their software vendors for them
- From a one-year traineeship in Broken Hill to an MSP of his own
- Referrals, local networking, and clients who found Bluebird IT on ChatGPT and Claude
- Australia's Privacy Act, keeping data in the country, and DefensX for controlling artificial intelligence (AI) access
- Monthly reports as proof for Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP) audits
- A long-term goal of handing the business to one of his children
Chapters
- 00:00 From three pricing tiers to one standard
- 00:32 Meet Stuart Millington
- 00:54 When healthcare became the rule
- 01:24 About 85% of clients in healthcare
- 02:46 Guiding other prospects to trusted peers
- 03:37 From general practices to wider medical
- 04:15 A general stack serving healthcare
- 04:57 Making the practice manager's life easier
- 05:36 Turning automation into recurring revenue
- 06:30 Why the practice manager is the linchpin
- 07:16 From Broken Hill to a first tech job
- 08:30 Moving to Perth and finding a mentor
- 09:41 Why he started his own business
- 10:18 Peel Chamber, Tech Tribe and a peer group
- 11:21 From home office to a shared workspace
- 11:58 Sharing an office with a client
- 13:00 Pushing through the hardest early years
- 15:46 Referrals, and clients from ChatGPT and Claude
- 16:54 Where practice managers spend time online
- 17:25 Why he'd rather help than sell
- 18:37 The stack: HaloPSA, NinjaOne, Huntress, Hudu
- 19:43 Site photos for clients 20 hours apart
- 20:10 Privacy Act and keeping data in Australia
- 21:58 DefensX for artificial intelligence controls
- 22:24 Taming the pull of shiny new tools
- 23:28 Newsletters, Best Practice and MedicalDirector
- 24:18 Pricing tiers and the security standard
- 24:57 Reports that show trust is earned
- 25:45 Roll-ups and American buyers in Australia
- 26:30 Handing the reins to the next generation
- 27:16 Systems built to grow before hiring
- 27:33 Lightning round
- 30:28 Who survives the next five years
The guest
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