In today’s increasingly digital day and age, medical professionals need to be more vigilant than ever before to avoid costly setbacks like hacks, cyberattacks, and data breaches. As a dedicated health care provider, you are a target for hackers to exploit your business’s private information. Moreover, you must take steps to protect your patients’ private medical information — all while staying HIPAA compliant. Health care providers also have to consider the potential financial cost and loss of resources that could be associated with a data breach. With the global cost of data breaches rising to $6 trillion annually, health care professionals can’t afford to be indifferent about cybersecurity. For these reasons and more, it’s time for medical professionals to take a stand against data breaches by utilizing tried-and-true strategies. Take a look at the 4 tips for health care professionals in today’s market to effectively avoid costly data breaches.
Implement Single Sign-On to Tighten Access Control
Particularly during a time when so many professional teams are working remotely, it’s crucial that medical providers take steps to secure their data and servers by incorporating single sign-on software (SSO). SSO is a security measure that restricts users from being signed into the company’s platform on multiple devices at a time. This measure effectively cuts down on the possibility that an unauthorized party could access the platform from another device with stolen log-in credentials. By prioritizing security measures early on with airtight access control measures, health care providers are sure to enjoy heightened security benefits and less risk of data breaches.
Opt for Complex Passwords
In addition to implementing heightened access control, medical providers should also use complex passwords and encourage team members to do the same. Using something as simple as “password123” is like handing hackers free access to your platform. Instead, favor passwords that are at least 8 characters long with a series of numbers, characters, and symbols. Changing your passwords annually will keep the system secure throughout employee turnover and more. Lastly, do not use the same password across multiple platforms. To maintain best security practices, create password “phrases” that combine multiple words, symbols, and numbers. Educate your team on the importance of password safety for long-term, positive results.
Don’t Store All Data Keys With Data
Yet another beneficial practice to help medical providers avoid costly data breaches is storing data keys away from your practice’s data. Remember, if your company’s data keys fall into the wrong hands, you are at risk of committing compliance violations, losing thousands of dollars, and much more. The stakes are high — it’s worth it to take your data key storage seriously. Rather than outsourcing the storage of your data keys, opt to keep them close to home. There’s no need to hand data keys off to your IT support team. Simply store them separately from your data in a secure location with tight access control. This practice will help medical providers fight off data breaches that are caused by the loss of data keys.
Partner With Trusted Billing, Coding, and Documentation Experts
Last but not least, partnering with an experienced medical billing, coding, and documentation professional is the key to avoid data breaches in the medical field. As a health care provider in today’s ever-changing world, you constantly have to adapt and change your practices to better accommodate your patients. Joining forces with the best of the best in medical billing and coding lets you focus on what you do best — caring for patients.
With years of valuable experience helping group practices, clinics and physicians navigate billing, coding, and medical documentation, M-Scribe is ready to help your practice thrive. With an unwavering dedication to high-quality practices and data protection, M-Scribe is ready to take your practice to the next level. We do this by offering a wide range of superb services, whether you’re a solo practitioner or a multi-site, multi-specialty practice or hospital. For more information about our top-notch billing, coding, and medical documentation services — as well as how we reduce the risk of data breaches — give us a call at 770-666-0470 or email patrick.dougherty@m-scribe.com today.
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