Author: Stuart Crawford

As technology continues to evolve, a growing number of healthcare organizations are deciding to go paperless. There are several important reasons why the healthcare industry is increasingly turning to digital record keeping.

1. Improve Accessibility

Continually keeping paper records filed and organized so they are easily accessible can be an overwhelming task. When a staff member needs a file it is important that it can be found quickly and easily. Going through potentially dozens of filing cabinets to look for records is unacceptable in a healthcare facility. Once an organization has gone digital, the problem of accessibility will be virtually eliminated. With a few keystrokes, information for thousands of patients can quickly be found and brought up. When files are digital employees, have the option of accessing them through the cloud or a remote desktop system.

2. Cut Costs

Containing costs is a critical issue for almost every healthcare organization. Several specific ways going paperless can save money for a healthcare facility.

• Employee Costs – The amount of manpower it takes to file and keep paper documents organized can be staggering.
• Office Space – Cabinets and shelves to store paper documents are often expensive and require more space in a building.
• Supply and Machine Expenses – Everything from paper and ink to copy machine maintenance can be avoided when going paperless.

3. Improve Security

Paperwork in a healthcare facility may go through several hands from the time the patient finishes it to the time it’s filed. Many employees in a hospital or healthcare facility sometimes have access to records they shouldn’t see. When an organization goes digital, only those who have previously been given access will have the passwords to access the information. Digital records can be encrypted, making them unreadable to anyone who doesn’t have clearance. When going digital, a healthcare organization may want to consider working with a managed IT service to keep their data organized as well as safe. An IT service can implement a variety of safety mechanisms including malware protection, improved firewalls, and offsite storage.

4. Save Time

Easy accessibility is only one way that going paperless will save time. Going paperless reduces redundant systems that are often time-consuming. With document management software, not only is paper eliminated but information can be downloaded into just one or two databases instead of several. There are several items in a healthcare facility that can be converted to digital files to save time.

• Patient Records – Most facilities will accumulate thousands of patient records. Digital records are much easier to find than searching cabinets and files.
• Human Resource Files – Employee files and records can be digitized as easily as patient records.
• Medical Billing – Electronic invoices can save an organization an incredible amount of time while making billing easier for their patients. Making it easier for patients to pay their bills may also reduce delinquency.
• X-Rays and EKGs – Digital radiography can provide numerous benefits. A few advantages include improved image quality and fewer files to store.

It is recommended to start converting the previous files one group at a time. Once all the files are converted and stored accurately, everything from patient files to x-ray records will be easy to find. This is perhaps one of the biggest time-savers of going digital. Staff can waste an enormous amount of time searching for paper files.

5. Reduce Errors

Human error is one of the primary reasons for mistakes in nearly every industry and organization. Patients filling out paperwork in a healthcare setting are often sick or in a hurry. It is not only patients that can make mistakes when filling out forms. Misplaced or lost files are a huge problem for medical facilities. Keeping stacks of papers and files on a desk is a recipe for confusion and lost items. Inability to read handwriting by both health professionals and patients is another way errors can be made. Finally, when there is only one access point for patient records, there is less chance that mistakes will be made. When a variety of administrative staff, nurses, and physicians each keep copies of their own records, each will likely end up with records that aren’t updated and complete.

6. Remain Patient Focused

The time it takes to fill out, file, and maintain paperwork takes an enormous amount of time from other tasks. From employees who check in and register patients to nurses and doctors, the staff in a healthcare facility will have more time to focus on each individual patient. There are several specific ways a paperless healthcare organization benefits patients.

• Quicker Access to Files – Digital files can easily be transmitted between various departments. This means there is less time wasted when a patient is transferred from one department to another. Physicians will be able to bring up patient files with mobile devices from virtually any location.
• Integrated Healthcare – Many patients will see several doctors and specialists during treatment. A paperless system will make it easier for each healthcare professional to instantly access a patient’s file.
• Safer Radiology – Digital x-rays can dramatically reduce exposure to radiation and works without chemical developers. Physicians can also enhance images on demand. This means there is a greater ability to detect diseases and changes in a patient’s condition.
• Improve Insurance Process – What insurance companies will and will not cover plays a part in what course of treatment a patient will take. Having quick access to this information will help both patients and physicians make informed decisions quickly.

7. Environmentally Friendly

Going paperless is an obvious and effective way to become an environmentally friendly organization. Several direct and indirect ways going paperless can help the environment. Not only does going digital save paper, but it also reduces the number of folders and binders that would be needed to keep all the necessary paper files. The need to dispose of ink cartridges can almost entirely be eliminated. Entire buildings can be designed with smaller offices because of the need for less overall space.

To stay competitive while providing the highest quality of patient care, it is necessary for every healthcare organization to consider going paperless. Even going semi-paperless can provide numerous benefits. Reducing or completely eliminating paper is not just a popular trend. Maintaining a paperless organization, whether it is in the healthcare field or any number of industries, is the future of doing business.

Disk cloning involves copying the contents of a hard drive to a replacement hard drive. It includes the file structure and system files and is used for a backup to upgrade, restore or move the drive data. The contents are typically written to one image file, which allows you to do the upgrade or restoration without reloading the operating system and applications. Cloning is different from imaging, which involves copying one or more partitions to an imaging file instead of an entire hard drive (HD) or solid state drive (SSD).

What are the Risks Involved in Cloning Your HD or SSD?

Cloning, by design, wipes out the contents of your computer and reloads them onto a replacement device. Doing the process incorrectly has catastrophic risks, so proceed with caution.

What Type of Cloning Software Is Available?

The manufacturer of the replacement SSD may have free cloning software. For example, Samsung has cloning software available to support its SSDs at https://www.samsung.com/semiconductor/minisite/ssd/download/tools/. The Samsung product only works with Samsung hardware and Windows operating systems, so be sure the drive you buy is compatible with your laptop or PC.

Other free software is more universal. Here are two of the most widely used and reliable ones.

Macrium Reflect 7 Free Edition: https://www.macrium.com/reflectfree

The above URL is the free version that works for personal or business computers. It’s menu driven easy to use. Because of this, it’s highly recommended for those who aren’t extremely tech savvy.

Clonezilla: http://www.clonezilla.org/
This powerful, free software is downloaded onto a USB and when it boots up proceeds with the cloning. It’s a bit daunting for anyone below the expert level but is decent software if you’re comfortable with the more complicated user interface.

How Is the Replacement Drive Prepared?

For the cloning process, you need to have two drives. The source drive is the one that’s in your computer now, and the destination drive is the new drive you want to install. If you’re using a laptop with a single bay for the HD or SSD, you’ll need to purchase an external SATA-to-USB adapter, enclosure or dock that allows you to connect the new drive to the computer. Next, you complete the cloning process and disconnect the new drive so that you can install it.

How Does the Cloning Process Work?

Before you start the cloning process, you should turn off Wi-Fi so that you don’t copy any incoming emails or other content. Using Macrium as an example, the next step is to open the software and set up the appropriate parameters, such as cloning the local disc to the SSD you connected for the cloning. You also have the option to optimize the space needed for the existing drive (the new one is likely bigger).

Cloning may take an hour or more, and you get updates when it starts and completes successfully. The final step is swapping out the old drive for the cloned one.

How Do You Swap the Drives?

Close down the PC and disconnect adapter from new SSD. Replacing the hard drive often means using a bracket or adapter because the new drive is likely to be smaller. This process varies depending on if you’re using a laptop or PC so it may take some research to figure out the correct procedure to replace the old hard drive with the SSD clone. Reboot the PC and check that the drives are still available.

Many organizations are turning to Microsoft Teams as a messaging app for the workplace, and for good reason. Microsoft Teams is a tool that emphasizes communication, real-time collaboration, app and file sharing, and meetings. This tool is a great way to keep everyone in the workplace on the same page at all times. If you don’t know much about Microsoft Teams, here is some information about this tool.

What is Microsoft Teams?

Microsoft Teams is a product created by Microsoft for business chat-based communication. This platform is comparable to Slack, HipChat, and other competitors. The essence of Microsoft Teams is that it allows users to set up Teams. Each Team serves as a hub for chat rooms, which are referred to as channels.

It is possible to house numerous channels in the same Team. Typically, each channel is dedicated to a different topic to ensure chats remain easy to follow. Conversations in a Team are threaded and flow from the top to the bottom. If there are updates to a conversation, the users who are a part of the channel are notified. If a face-to-face conversation is necessary, a user can jump into a Skype video or voice chat with other users in the channel at the click of a button.

Microsoft is advertising Microsoft Teams as more than just a platform for chatting. A major advantage of this product is that it is integrated with Office 365, which is Microsoft’s online office suite. Therefore, Microsoft Teams is integrated with not just Word and Excel, but also SharePoint and other cloud storage and sharing services. Delve, PowerPoint, OneNote, Power BI, and Planner are just a few other examples of the services integrated with Teams.

The reason this is so advantageous is that any documents, presentations, and spreadsheets that are shared within a Team are automatically synced and stored in OneDrive, which is Microsoft’s cloud storage. This makes sure that every user in a Team has access to the latest copy of the document. Collaborative editing on the content shared is also possible. Every time a user makes a change, this automatically reflected in real time for the other users.

Even if some of your employees don’t like to use Microsoft Teams, they can still be kept in the loop due to the integration with Office 365. Any important content or updates made within Microsoft Teams will be accessible outside of the platform.

If necessary, you can use Connectors so that team channels can communicate and interact with services outside of Microsoft Office 365. There are currently Connectors for services like SAP Success Factors, Salesforce, GitHub, Zendesk, MailChimp, and Evernote. If there is not a Connector available for the outside service you want to connect to, you can use the API framework to build one. This API framework is particularly helpful if you want to link Microsoft Teams to your own internal apps.

When Microsoft Teams launched, there were more than 70 Connectors and 85 Bots. Bots are able to participate in the conversations within a channel. Every channel in a Team has access to a T-Bot, which is a bot that will answer users’ questions about Microsoft Team. The virtual assistant Cortana is also being integrated into Microsoft Teams. This integration will allow your employees to use IP phones and conference room microphones to issue commands to Cortana.

Office 365 Groups and SharePoint controls access to the dashboard, files, and internal sites. Users are able to make new Groups. It is also possible to connect a Team to a Group that already exists when making the Team.

In terms of security and data protection, you have nothing to worry about when it comes to Microsoft Teams. This platform meets the same standards as Office 365 and is Tier C compliant. This platform uses two-factor authentication. Data is encrypted at rest and in transit.

How Can I Get Microsoft Teams?

If you want to use Microsoft Teams, all you need to do is navigate to the Office 365 admin center and enable it.

As you can see, there are many reasons why organizations are jumping on the Microsoft Teams bandwagon. For more information about the advantages of Microsoft Teams for your organization, don’t hesitate to contact us.

For most companies that have an IT department, the decisions that revolve around technology, including the devices and the platforms/programs that are used, fall squarely on their shoulders. IT professionals do the research and, in most cases, choose the technology (devices, platforms, etc.) that best suit the needs of the company. The problem is that while the IT professionals may know what’s best, the employees may not agree with their findings. Finding a happy medium is not always as easy as it sounds.

Forcing the Tech Issue

Management often gives the IT department strict control over the technology that is used during the day to day operation of the business. Because they have built the network and know what devices will work most efficiently, they may expect employees to merely follow along. For some, this may work. The problem revolves around the fact that not every employee may feel comfortable with the platforms the IT department wants them to use. They may be difficult to use or the employee may simply have another option that they prefer. Forcing employees to conform to IT departments demands can lead to significant issues, including reduced productivity, increased tension in the workplace, and frustration with how the system works as a whole. Needless to say, forcing the issue can have disastrous consequences.

Strictly Managed IT or Enhanced Productivity

Simply put, you can have a strictly managed IT network that doesn’t take into consideration the needs and wants of the employees or you can allow the employees to choose the devices and platforms they want increasing productivity, but possibly causing the system to not work as effectively as it should. The key to finding the best of both worlds is to find a happy medium. Employees don’t necessarily want to dictate where the company invests their technology dollars, they just want a say in how it will affect them and how they are able to do their jobs. It’s more beneficial for everyone involved if both the IT department and the employees work together to create a system that makes it easy for the employees to perform effectively as well as allowing the IT department the ability to invest in the technology that is needed to keep the business moving forward.

Personalization

The key is to maintain the integrity of the company’s IT network while allowing employees to use the platforms, programs, and devices they are most comfortable with. This level of personalization may take some time to accomplish but in the end, will create a network that is both efficient as well as secure. When it comes to investing the company’s money into high-tech systems, taking a dictatorial approach can have disastrous results if the employees aren’t comfortable with the IT department’s choice. While IT will still have the final say, allowing employees to voice their opinion and provide input from their perspective will make it possible to build a personalized network that accomplishes everyone’s goals. This includes creating a system that is both secure and well-structured using devices and platforms that allow employees to be as productive as possible.

Working together to create a personalized network will not only ensure that the company’s investment pays off, but it will also allow employees to feel valued. The more appreciated the employee, the more dedicated they are to the company, which in turn, increases productivity and creates a positive work environment.

Small and mid-sized companies have a tendency to operate under the assumption that hackers target only more extensive operations. There’s a simple logic to that misconception that these criminals instigate cyber breaches that reap the highest possible reward. Nothing could be further from the truth.

Check out what Robert Herjavec and Scott Schober have to say on Cybersecurity.
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While hacks into the Democratic National Committee and Equifax make big headlines, the majority of cyber attacks are carried out on smaller, vulnerable systems. Most hackers merely look for the low hanging fruit. If your small or mid-sized company has modestly valuable data and lacks top-tier cybersecurity, you are that low hanging fruit.

By 2020, upwards of 6 billion people globally and 283 million Americans are expected to utilize the Internet. That means businesses of every level will be fully engaged and it only takes two miscreants on another continent to breach your security.

Cybercrime has already reportedly outpaced the combined profits of all the major drug cartels in the world at $6 trillion annually. Unlike vast criminal organizations, two computer whizzes with laptops thousands of miles away can extract sensitive information without a company even knowing until it’s too late.

These days, stealing credit card info is not among the highest priorities. Cybercriminals have discovered that personal and personnel information can yield significant paydays. If you still don’t think cybersecurity ranks among the highest priorities for small and mid-sized companies, just listen to this.

Hacks Are Often Inside Jobs

It may seem counterintuitive, but a company’s most significant cyber threat can be found among the most valued employees. Staff members are not generally acting in a nefarious fashion. In fact, loyal employees are often just that, loyal. But a pervasive attitude exists in workplaces that checking in on personal social media, using various non-work related apps and platforms is both allowable and safe.

According to cyber security experts, upwards of 93 of all breaches that are investigated thoroughly trail back to an employee. Although that person is generally not the so-called “inside man” or “inside woman” regarding criminal intent, their nonchalant attitude about checking personal sites exposed the small or mid-sized organization to a massive data breach.

Many are merely duped by phishing scams or inadvertently infest a business system with malware. This could occur by synching an unsecured device, moving data on a USB drive back and forth between home and work, or surfing the Internet among other security missteps. While many business decision-makers believe their data is not at risk, it takes a cybersecurity professional to build a company-specific “human firewall” that reduces internal threats through actionable policies and training.

Small And Mid-Sized Organizations Held Hostage Everyday

No Third World drug cartel can compare to the volume of theft leveled by small-time hackers. Ransomware remains the top malicious software and ranks among the most lucrative type of cyberattack. This variety of malware targets business systems by penetrating them through a camouflage method of encryption. Once inside a business’ network, it quickly encrypts critical data and makes everything inaccessible to the organization.

The name “ransomware” was earned by what comes after. A defiled organization will likely get a notice to pay a certain amount — often in bitcoin — to get an encryption code allowing you to restore access to your own files. This hostage situation often proves fruitful for the cybercriminal because paying them off appears to be in the company’s best financial interest. Sadly, too many business leaders only move forward with advanced cybersecurity after suffering a feeling of helplessness and humiliation.

Underachieving Cybersecurity Protocols Prove Costly

A Verizon Data Breach Report reportedly concluded that upwards of 60 percent of all incursions during 2016 could be attributed to outside forces. These data breaches were considered instances of “hacking” by a third party’s intent to circumvent existing security measures. Hackers tend to seek out a company’s weakest cyber defense points to gain access.

In essence, this follows the adage that a chain is only as strong as its weakest link. Among the more notable instances of a weak-link failure was JP Morgan’s massive breach in 2014. Despite having a top-tier cybersecurity team in place, a single server was missed during a password update. That single under-protected server resulted in what was ranked among the top 10 worst cyber thefts in history. Approximately 83 million household and business accounts were reportedly impacted at a whopping $100 million.

While this level of cyber theft makes mainstream media headlines, hackers tend to have greater success penetrating smaller companies with far less sophisticated cyber security systems. The basic criminal business model relies on volume not occasional massive paydays. Think about it this way. The Brinks Job made bank-robbing history in 1950, but stick-up men knock off liquor stores every day.

Unpatched Security Bugs Attract Cybercrime Infestations

One of the more prevalent methods used by a hacker is to infiltrate your system in plain sight. Cyber thieves often use well-known software deficiencies commonly called bugs as a type of cracked door.

When software companies send out routine fixes such as patches, users have the option of making this repair. But when a system appears to be functioning appropriately, a small or mid-sized business may discard the effort as more of a nuisance than anything else. That could prove to be a fatal data breach mistake.

When systems linger unpatched, hackers may be quick to seize on specific vulnerabilities and infiltrate a company’s network. It’s important to understand that cybersecurity only seems like another time-consuming task that detracts from company goals. Anyone who uses computers, devices, software or accesses the Internet is inherently in the cybersecurity business. Without adequate cybersecurity systems, policies and protocols in place, the entire organization remains at risk.

Data Breaches Threats Represent A Clear And Present Danger

If you remain unconvinced about how crucial cybersecurity is to your business’ integrity, consider these telling facts. The U.S. government has placed the most significant emphasis on increasing only two areas of the military budget — special ops and cybersecurity.

Today, a person’s electronic medical records are more valuable than credit card information on the dark web. And, electronic ransoms are the fastest growing cybercrime and are expected to occur every 14 seconds by 2020. The question is no longer if a sub-par system will be hacked, it’s when

The FBI and Department of Homeland Security (DHS) have issued a vital ransomware alert for the SamSam ransomware also known as MSIL/Samas.A.

The FBI and DHS alert, issued on November 3rd, 2018 describes how hackers armed with SamSam ransomware have targeted multiple industries, including some within critical infrastructure. Those victimized by SamSam have been located predominately in the United States. However, some international attacks also occurred.

This alert comes few days after the Justice Department charged two Iranians as the masterminds behind the recent SamSam ransomware attacks.

Read more about this critical FBI and DHS warning.

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Stay tuned to our blog for more information.