Global security concerns are heightened currently, so we figured this is an opportune time to conduct a security audit in your practice. No eyecare practice wants to be involved in a patient record leak or any cyberattack that leads to compromised information. Not only would this venture require you to inform your patients and lose clout in the community, but it would cost your practice thousands in IT bills.
We've covered the basics of ransomware attacks in previous blogs, so read those if you haven't had a chance to. Today, we'll show you tools that help you rest easy that your patient records are secure.
Safe & Secure Patient Records in Your Eyecare Practice
HIPAA Compliance
You should already be conducting regular risk analyses in order to stay HIPAA compliant. Furthermore, keeping your communications encrypted and secure is highly important. We partner with Abyde to make sure Uprise EHR and PM is compliant with all updated HIPAA regulations. All Uprise customers can generate policies, automate compliance measures, and check if they are meeting MIPS requirements with Abyde's embedded solution.
Data Backups
A real-time cloud-based system is securely backing your EHR records safely. If you're currently on a server-based EHR, then review the security measures you need to take with your vendor. There might be quarterly maintenance costs associated with housing your EHR records security on servers, too. Also, this is a good time to double-check user access to administrative privileges on all your devices. Not every individual in your practice needs to have the ability to download new applications to your system.
Secure Telemedicine
According to this Review of Optometric Business article, "32 percent of healthcare provider respondents to the survey agreed that their organization has faced cybersecurity issues due to vulnerabilities in third-party technologies." If you're offering telemedicine, we highly recommend you use a secure patient portal or HIPAA-compliant platform for video or voice calls.
Training Your Staff
Phishing scams are getting more sophisticated these days. It never hurts to require your staff to watch a few tutorial videos on recognizing phishing emails and updating security software or firewalls. These small steps could save you the cost and effort of uprooting your entire system after a malware attack or security breach. You can find these training videos on Youtube, UDemy, or even LinkedIn.
For more information on fortifying your practice, try our 5 step OD Boot Camp.
