The Integrity Blog
Insight into what questions dental and medical practices should ask managed IT providers as they are searching for one. The checklist also dives into red flags to be on the look-out for.
Data Security | Network Assessment
Certain dental and medical practices don’t see the value in a proper network assessment. But network security is pertinent in these fields, as healthcare companies are at a much higher risk for attack, due to the vast wealth of protected health information (PHI) they house.
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Data Security | Dental | Medical
As a healthcare provider, you are responsible for providing the best possible care to your patients. In order to do so, you gather important details about them. Therefore, you are also responsible for protecting your patients’ sensitive information. This includes, but is not limited to, demographics such as birth dates and social security numbers, financial data, or health information such as medical conditions and test results. Recently, Quest Diagnostics was in the news for a data breach affecting 12 million of their patients. This is just the latest in a series of several major security breaches in recent years. Although the Quest breach affected American Medical Collection Agency, a third party billing service employed by Quest at the time, it is Quest’s business reputation on the line. Read on to find out ways your practice could be at risk and how to protect yourself and your patients.
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Insight into what questions dental and medical practices should ask managed IT providers as they are searching for one. The checklist also dives into red flags to be on the look-out for.
Data Security | Dental | Medical
As a medical or dental practitioner, you are quite familiar with the benefits of preventive care. Brush and floss, eat healthy and exercise, schedule routine check ups and tests - these are all ways to prevent larger health issues down the road. The same thing applies to protecting your practice from a potential healthcare data breach. Preventing a data breach by protecting your patients' sensitive information requires an investment up front, but be assured that the cost for not doing so far exceeds the cost of the “preventive care”. In this post we will define what a healthcare data breach is, the catastrophic cost associated with recovering from one, how to prevent a breach, and how to get started with your own “preventive care” plan for your practice.
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In the dental industry, you always hear about the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). But do you really know what it means and more importantly, is your organization HIPAA compliant? Here, we will go over what HIPAA is, which entities are governed by HIPAA, and how your practice can ultimately become compliant.
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Data Security | Dental | Medical
What is the most important part of your practice? Is it your building? Is it the equipment? No, your practice is your patients. And since most patient records are stored electronically these days, your practice is your patients’ electronic data. Patient data is the critical and comprehensive medical information that allows you to safely treat your patients. So what happens if there is an extended power outage in your area? A fire or flood in your office? Your network server crashes? What if your computer network is compromised from outside your practice?
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As a dental or medical professional, you want the ability to stay connected to your patients around the clock. Of course you want to remind a patient of an upcoming appointment or send them the latest practice newsletter. But what about really staying in touch and providing them with valuable information about their health? Whether it be sending over test results, asking patients for sensitive information, or sending treatment records, ensuring that your email system is set up to be safe, secure and HIPAA compliant is essential. In this blog we will outline 9 things you need to be doing to ensure your emails are HIPAA compliant.
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