As regular readers know, I'm a huge proponent of data security. In fact, in March of this year (2024) I covered why security should be looked at as 'insurance' and not as a 'nice to have' in my Technology Evangelist column in Dental Products Report.
Data security can mean financial security when one evaluates all the potential costs that can arise out of a data breach... especially in healthcare. Fines issued by the federal government can be severe and considering that even with strong, reliable backups, your office could be closed for several days as IT professionals restore your network to function.
Doctors need to pay attention to these attack vectors and do everything possible to prevent this from happening. Unfortunately, because most doctors don't understand IT, they simply ask their local technician if they are "OK", receive assurances, and then move on. As doctors we *need* solid education on the 'best practices' for our data... and that can be hard to come by.
That is the reason I'll be co-presenting a webinar soon on the topic. The webinar will be a tag team effort by myself and Gary Salman who is the CEO of Black Talon Security. As the CEO of a data security firm, Gary knows this subject forwards and backwards.
We'll go over ways to protect your practice as well as educate you on *why* these best practices need to be put into place.
Mark your calendars now for Friday November 8th at 9:00 am Eastern Time to learn how to keep your data safe and how to protect your practice from the unexpected. I love talking tech and helping my peers so I'm *super excited* to be able to bring this kind of info to other doctors. Plan on being there! You can register by following this link.
> your office could be closed for several days as IT professionals restore your network to function.
ReplyDeleteThat's atrocious. The last time we had to recover an office from a complete disaster (sprinkler head in the IT closet burst and destroyed the equipment), we had them 100% back up and running in under 4 hours.
Your average managed service provider is either a bunch of guys who play video games and smoke pot on the weekend and managed to con you into buying their service because they're the cheapest around, or they are a huge bureaucratic national company that just resells other people's products at a mark-up.
> Unfortunately, because most doctors don't understand IT, they simply ask their local technician if they are "OK", receive assurances and then move on.
Nearly two decades ago, I worked for one of those IT companies. They sent monthly reports that everything was OK. Behind the scenes I talked with the big boss because 28 offices hadn't taken a valid backup in over 6 months. I was told "Don't worry about it, God protects this company".
Unfortunately most doctors don't have the technical know-how to know when the average MSP is lying through their teeth just to keep collecting an $800/mo paycheck.
Aaron, this post is just *one* of the reasons I love the fact you read and then are gracious enough to comment. You have a serious history in the dental IT world and you bring an 'eyes on' perspective to this subject that I cannot.
ReplyDeleteI truly appreciate the fact that you are 'fighting the good fight' in the trenches every day. The IT aspect of healthcare needs more people like you.
Stats normally say that only around 50% of people seek regular preventive dental care. The rest only seek help when they are in pain.
Dentists know that regular preventive care is actually less costly and less stressful than waiting until there is a problem.
The flip side of this equation is that maybe 5% of dentists (probably less) do the same with IT. That's the message I'm trying to get across to other doctors. By having an "Aaron" on their team to work with preventatively is the smart thing to do. Prevention is simply better.
> The flip side of this equation is that maybe 5% of dentists (probably less) do the same with IT. That's the message I'm trying to get across to other doctors.
DeleteWell...get that message across...and the one that makes it almost entirely impossible for any company--let alone a good one to reach them. ;)
I've done this for over 18 years now. Easily for every 25 new clients that were "word of mouth" or "we just bought the practice and we'll keep using the same IT company", we get 1 that is actually searching for an IT company and 0 that will respond to a phone call.
Hate to say it, but that doesn't surprise me. I'll keep doing what I can!
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