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More than ever, today’s CFOs are expected to have a degree of tech savviness. Big data and analytics are tools that are just too powerful to ignore in the CFO suite. If you’re not particularly tech savvy, harnessing the power of these tools to the fullest extent will remain out of reach.

Why You Need to Become the Tech Savvy CFO

It’s crucial to understand just how powerful today’s technology tools are for financial leadership. Whatever the nature of your business and industry, technology can empower you and your staff in the following ways.

Forecasting and Risk

Forecasting has always been a part of the CFO’s role. Forecasting today can be much more accurate, thanks to the rich data that’s available. CFOs must have the skills to understand and interpret that data (or they must employ people who can). Use robust data and analytics to reduce the amount of guesswork in your forecasting.

Risk management is another responsibility under your purview as CFO. Forecasting and risk management are interrelated, of course, and both have traditionally involved a fair bit of prediction and uncertainty. If you’re like most CFOs, you’re a fairly risk-averse person. Reduce the risks of prediction and uncertainty by basing your decision-making on data wherever possible.

Advanced Data Visualization Techniques

All this data that companies now have access to can quickly become overwhelming. Today’s tech savvy CEOs harness the power of advanced data visualization techniques to bring the most important information to the surface. These techniques include making dashboards for interacting with the data and scorecards for presenting it to users at all levels.

Predictive Analytics

In the 1960s, business predictions were often made around a conference table in a smoke-filled room. They were based on some amount of data, but hunches, opinions, and interpersonal power dynamics often played an outsized role.

Today, there’s a better way. Predictive analytics are driven by algorithms and data, not by cigars and opinions. Leverage the power of all the data you’ve collected into predictive analytics. While they are neither perfect nor omniscient, predictive analytics remove human biases from forecasting. This powerful tool can enhance your effectiveness as a CFO.

Adjust in Real Time

The CFO that understands how to use these new tools can be agile, adjusting in real time based on the data that’s coming in. Many marketplaces change rapidly, and a 6-month-old report may no longer ring true. Big data and analytics let CFOs make these quick adjustments as they continually monitor data and adjust their predictions.

Drive Growth

Acting on your analysis of data can often spur on innovation and growth. Creating efficiencies aids in growth, and as you do so you’re likely to discover new business opportunities, such as a hole in the market that your company is suited to fill.

How to Become the Tech Savvy CFO

Having a tech savvy CFO brings many advantages to a company. As a result, being a tech savvy CFO makes you a much more valuable asset. If you’re not there yet, here are a few quick tips for how to get there.

Learn Analytics

Yes, this sounds basic, but if you don’t understand how to use analytics to do the things we’ve talked about, you need to learn. If others in your company already know analytics, leverage your rank. You are the CFO, after all—make it part of their job to teach you. If you’re in a smaller firm that has yet to embrace big data and analytics, it may be time to go get a certification in this area.

Meet Regularly with Experts

Your CIO, if your firm has one, should be well versed in the sorts of technology we’ve discussed today. Meet regularly with your CIO and ask questions. Do the same with other experts in your network. They aren’t the finance people, so they may not readily see how big data and analytics can transform your role. As your understanding grows and you learn to them the right questions, you’re likely to discover breakthroughs together.

Read What They Read

Sites like CIO.com are go-to resources for CIOs, but you can benefit there, too. Not every article will apply to what you’re learning, but many will. Reading sites like these will increase your overall tech comfort level.

Leverage the Data

As your understanding of analytics grows, you can start leveraging that data in real, meaningful ways. It’s easy to get overwhelmed in a deluge of data if you don’t have the tools to parse through it. At the same time, it’s possible to parse the data so finely that you miss valuable conclusions. As your comfort level grows, you’ll improve in leveraging data to the fullest extent.

Educate Your Team

Last, you need to educate your team. As you journey to become a tech-savvy CFO, teach your team what you’re learning so that they can help you win using data and analytics.

Business objectives should help determine how technology will be used. The growth planning helps as technology experts determine the plans for support services. Several companies of many sizes are continuing their research of private and public clouds. The question is, “Should we go with a private cloud or public cloud?” The reviews of public and private clouds are lengthy with numerous pros and cons for both. Many businesses are finding success with the appropriate technology. With the debate analysis, the decision-makers have been weighing cost, data control, security and in-house technology staffs. The technology should support how the company will process information and help determine staffing and deployment.

Some preparation steps for going with a private cloud or public cloud are to thoroughly review profitability plans, network solutions, and all other business needs. The planning analysis is helpful, and the report plans are smart to confirm with your in-house technical staff. Communication across the company is smart as everyone understands the company messages, directives, and planning.

Profitability with Management Support

Top providers of public clouds include Amazon Web Services (AWS), Microsoft Azure and Google Cloud for models that are scalable, secure, provide data analytics, artificial intelligence, and machine learning capabilities. Technology updates with monthly reports are smart options for a company’s impressive success and growth. The time and labor allocations might be considered with choices for information storage, customer IT interfacings, and staff requirements. Profitability reporting may be different between departments, employees in the field, administration, and sales teams. The IT solution should allow for customized reporting. On-premise private cloud and hosted private cloud providers are suggesting to consider security, regulatory compliance issues, and governance. Customization and controlled reporting can also improve with IT tools for data analysis. The flexibility of technology can be very helpful for overall sales and marketing.

What are Some Considerations for Planning and Design

The public cloud is considered to be easy to purchase and deploy which are a few of the reasons for being chosen by businesses. Setting up an in-house infrastructure is a consideration with fast company growth and this is another reason a public cloud may be reviewed as an IT solution. Data collection improvements are smart for profitability reviews and expense management. A completely improved plan that is chosen by the business leaders can be included in any IT rollouts with equipment reviews for business processes and requirements. Starting with the business designs and planning is helpful for many IT professionals that want to understand the business side, industry positioning, and proposed growth plans.

Network Solutions

A public cloud can be helpful because it is constantly updated. The enhanced reporting and functionality may be an attractive reason to select a public cloud, especially with fast company growth. Hosting is important and the plans for staffing are reviewed easily. One way of viewing the public versus private cloud options is to look at responsibility for hosting. It is proposed that the differentiator for a public cloud as a hosting solution to be one management responsibility that would not be needed. The hosting solution as a management plan is important as a reason to consider additional costs for staffing, equipment, IT support, administration, and overall company expenses.

Analysis of Business Planning

A private cloud may be useful for support teams if the company has an experienced managed IT services team that have been supporting data storage and data center infrastructures. The IT consultants can also prepare reports and utilize customized features with any technology experts. This is also an appealing feature for business executives that prefer to analyze sales and profitability data with their IT teams. The choices for technology solutions are important. IT providers should be leveraged and the relationship is helpful for implementations. Security planning is important with analysis of a business and regular reporting covering the following:

• Privacy of Data
• Customization Strengths
• Efficient Record Keeping and Reporting
• Technology Systems and Information Storage

IT Support for Public or Private Cloud Services

The solution must be the best for how a company is making money. Profit potential should be a simple review and the technology solutions for industry-specific businesses should be addressed. In-house technical expertise and company growth plans are two main factors to consider with the decision to go with a public or private cloud.

According to some in the technology industry, criminals use the dark web to buy and sell stolen data. Identity thieves are a must stop with any Internet offerings. The top priority with all of this is forced compliance for Internet data protection, consumer protection, and business information protection.

Internet Structures and Business Use

Understanding a few areas of consideration with the surface web and the dark web makes it easier to know how to best protect your data. Search engines use links to index websites. The links help rank searches and the results of browser requests for information. The results of searches may be related to keywords, inbound links, and relevancy. Many consider browser searches to be referred to as the “surface web”. Some information for certain title searches may not be found if the data structure is not on the surface web. This is a reason why many are hoping for Internet improvements for meaningful results of browser searches. There are two points of technology being reviewed with this topic. How does data provision improve and how do consumers with the Internet get improvements for locating the relevant information that meets their needs?

Information Hierarchies and Storage

Login information is stored somewhere with technology offering databases, cloud services, and computer capabilities. The content of information should be private and the data that is stored could be considered as part of the deep web that should offer protection and privacy of personal information. Some examples of deep web content that may not be found with Internet searches but should be a high priority for managers of businesses include the following:

• Information in emails
• Information with banking account online services
• Information shared between social media accounts
• Data in business databases
• Information from medical providers
• Information from legal firms
• Information for the IRS
• Information from public institutions, such as libraries and university databases

Understanding the deep web and surface web concepts for the Internet is what can make everything more sensible for business planning and data protection. This includes personal data protection and the suggested improvements for the usage of any information sharing processes. Overall, technology is impressive with the deep web not having private information that turns up in a web search. Misuse of data must be avoided and IT experts are excellent leaders for helping to make sure the web is safe for everyone. Routine security checks and appropriate planning are the best ways to manage protection in a smart way. Proactive plans to protect how information is provided, collected, and used is another simple way to demonstrate smart management. Managed IT support is understood better as an intelligent way to make sure a business has the experts available to help with processes, sales planning, and customer satisfaction. Profitability is a smart focus and security planning is a nice way to promote a successful business.

What is the ‘Dark Web’ and why is inappropriate and inefficient scanning disallowed?

The dark web may be used for criminal activities. Password protection is understood as more important and the selections of account data should be determined with smart planning. Virtual Private Networks (VPN) are another way to encrypt the data and protect the privacy of information. Email content from unknown sources is another consideration and company managers should consider processes and policies to protect their employees, company, and clients. Training is another smart way to make sure business information is protected and the planning processes support best practices for IT support throughout a company.

The dark web should not have any criminal activities. Dark web scanning is disallowed and should not be anything with your network. Scanning devices involved with the dark web are not considered ‘clean’ and involvement with anything like scanning services is not the best plan. Forced compliance is now the best and IT support teams are smart to focus on security and protection of all information. Companies that notice any forced inappropriate web and computer scanning may want to consider a reporting process or work with their IT experts to plan out security protection. Employee training is a smart way of protecting the information and assets of a company.

Dark web scanning services are inaccurate and inappropriate. To put it simply, the scanning is disallowed and not allowed on the Internet. Nonusage and prohibited refers to the scanning, service, providers, and convoluted partnerships. What action can you take to stop inappropriate computer presentations and forced disallowed services? What action can you take to confirm computer and network efficiencies? Manage your network with IT professionals. Also, email management is smart planning. This may include security planning, checks for computer efficiencies, and optimization of speed with performance.

 

The ability to work anywhere used to be limited to freelancers and writers, but today’s professionals need the flexibility to be productive regardless of their physical location. Microsoft Office 365 provides the full-featured suite of services that businesses need to scale quickly and focus on core growth. While Office 365 may call to mind basic programs such as Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook, there are far more software apps available that allow you to create custom solutions by department and quickly add or reduce your licenses as needed. See why Microsoft Office 365 is the choice of millions of businesses throughout the world.

Integrated Apps: Superior Experience

Designed to help you grow your business, Microsoft Office 365 provides your teams with simple collaboration internally as well as with customer and external vendor partners. This is ideal for organizations with multiple locations that need the ability to share calendars or documents in real time. Chat functionality is built in, as well as version control that works across mobile and desktop applications. What’s better — users are able to install the apps on up to five devices, making it easy to always stay in sync.

 

 

Apps included in Office 365 include:

• Word
• Excel
• PowerPoint
• Outlook
• OneNote
• Teams
• SharePoint
• Exchange Online Protection
• Access (PC only)
• Publisher (PC only)

Each application is fully managed and supported by Microsoft, with 24/7 phone and online support as well as their uptime guarantee of 99.9 percent so your software is always available for use by your team.

Cloud-based Storage You Can Trust

Each Office 365 subscription level also includes 1TB of storage in Microsoft OneDrive, an extremely secure solution for cloud-based business data storage. OneDrive allows you to send links to files in a secure location instead of attaching the files directly to your emails, and your devices will always be up-to-date with the most recent versions of documents — allowing for quick edits on the road. Patches are applied on a regular basis

Easy Access to Tools for Building Your Business

Your time is important, which is why Microsoft has created this integrated approach to business productivity and operations. From chatting with remote staff members to collaborating across devices with customers in other parts of the country, you’ll find all the key services that you need to build your business without the overhead of internally managing the licenses or support. From mileage tracking and protection against unauthorized access to your company’s confidential information, Microsoft Office 365 has you covered.

When you’re able to focus on the key tasks associated with business growth and are spending less time on administrative background work, you may be surprised at the high level of value you are able to deliver back to your company on a weekly basis.

Over the last couple of years, both the concept and the real world application of Virtual Reality (VR) has moved from the fringes of our imagination, into everyday use.

What was once a technology that was considered as only beneficial in computer games and futuristic projects designed never to come to fruition, is now infiltrating many areas of our lives. The military, education, entertainment, fashion, and even engineering are all being touched by the power of VR, but it is the healthcare sector where it is really making waves.

Notably, during the previous 18 months, something of a virtual reality revolution has taken place in terms of health-related applications. We may well still be in the early days of releasing its full potential for patients and medical practitioners, but so far it seems that VR is becoming something of a tangible reality in healthcare.

Here are just some of the pioneering ways that VR has been integrated into the healthcare industry to improve the lives or both patients, and doctors.

Autism Therapy

Around 1% of the global population sits somewhere on the autism spectrum. With no preventative methods, no cure, and little understanding of why it occurs, therapeutic treatments are the only way to help those afflicted. Language and speech therapy can offer significant improvements in an autistic individuals quality of life, but previously this therapy had to be done face-to-face. This posed a number of limitations depending on the location and level of mobility of the individual, and it also means doctors are restricted to practicing in certain geographical areas.

But with VR this doesn’t have to be the case. Some startups have begun to utilize technology to simplify the delivery of therapy to autistic individuals, without the need for travel. Products use VR to create social interactions by creating virtual characters in a digital scene. For example, instead of sitting in a doctors office and looking at toys on a table, the individual will see a panda in a virtual safari park that they can interact with accordingly. Each environment can be specially tailored to include the appropriate sensory environment for each patient- something that is hard to do in ‘real life’.

Virtual surgery

The concept of virtual surgery is being used in both to educate trainee medical professionals, but also to give surgeons a chance to rehearse complex operations before the real thing.

By allowing trainee doctors to conduct medical procedures in a VR situation, their confidence and experience can be built on significantly. Being able to perform a surgical procedure on a virtual patient means they can practice new techniques and skills in a ‘real’ setting, without ‘real’ consequences.

For more experienced surgeons, the ability to walk through a complex or lengthy surgery before having the live patient on the operating table can allow them to deal with a variety of outcomes, as well as to troubleshoot or practice tricky maneuvers.

Chronic Pain

Over 25 million people in the US alone, suffer with chronic pain. These people resort to the long-term use of painkillers and opioids which carry their own risks and contraindications, including addiction and death. As a result, doctors have been searching for a way to provide safer, more effective, and less problematic alternatives as quickly as possible. Virtual reality has been suggested as one way of doing just this and so far studies have show that it can help to reduce pain by around 25%.

Virtual reality therapy has been shown to not only reduce pain in patients, but to stop the brain from processing pain the same way. This can lead to reductions of in-patient time as well as decreased dependency on powerful prescription drugs. By helping to distract the minds of patients in pain, the world of VR can release stress which in turn contributes towards the alleviation of pain. Allowing patients to escape the four walls of hospital or their homes and to swim with dolphins, take a helicopter ride, or play a game of tennis, has a significant impact on their mental and subsequently, physical wellbeing.

Providing visual and motion-based experiences has been found to work in positive ways on several parts of the brain, leading to increased rehabilitation rates and enabling them to live a more normal and less painful life.

Restoring Vision

Vision impairment affects around 150 million people around the world, in varying levels. Whether it is age related or caused by a medical issue or injury, it severely impacts the patient’s ability to live normally.

Low vision is not easily treated with glasses, medicine, or surgery, and until recently, those afflicted had little choice but to learn to adapt. Now, with the use of VR, levels of vision can be increased by allowing the patient to magnify certain objects in a visual scene without losing sight of the rest of the environment. Certain software applications allow users to literally zoom in on certain things without impacting the rest of the ‘scene’. Users are then able to adjust the contrast, text, or ambient level, allowing them to carry out normal activities with more ease.

Care of the Elderly

When dealing with elderly patients, it can be difficult for younger medical professionals to understand the situation and limitations that age imposes on patients. For example, an age difference of 50 years between patient and doctor can create a significant disconnection between the two, resulting in frustration and breakdowns in communication.

VR, however, is helping to change this. By harnessing virtual reality technology, doctors and nurses are able to experience what growing old feels like or what recovering from a stroke is really like. Applications have been created where the user is able to experience life as an elderly person, see the world through their eyes, and experience as realistically as possible, how everything from movement to sight can be severely limited. It is hoped that this kind of experience will bridge the gap between elderly patients (especially those that are non-verbal) and caregivers to increase the level of care offered.

Brain Trauma Recovery

Strokes are one of the leading causes of brain trauma and to stand a good chance of recovery, patients need to start therapy and rehabilitation as soon as possible. In some communities and circumstances however, this is not always possible.

By using virtual reality, patients are able to practice regaining the functions they have lost such as moving their fingers or lifting their arms. Whilst the patients are not actually carrying out the actual movement, the motivation, engagement, and activity of the brain is improved through the use of audio-visual feedback. It is understood that this can lead to significantly improved recovery time for those who have suffered significant neurological trauma and injury.

A recently announced a data security breach of Microsoft’s Outlook.com product has many wondering how to work with MSP customers to understand the scope and impact.

What Happened to Outlook.com Data?

It appears that the breach occurred when a support agent’s access credentials were compromised. Support agents are customer service representatives that handle technical issues and complaints. That led to unauthorized access to a portion of the accounts on Microsoft’s web email service from January 1 to March 29, 2019.

The hack apparently affected Hotmail and MSN users in addition to Outlook account holders. In an email to users, Microsoft noted that, “This unauthorized access could have allowed unauthorized parties to access and/or view information related to your email account (such as your e-mail address, folder names, the subject lines of e-mails, and the names of other e-mail addresses you communicate with), but not the content of any e-mails or attachments,”

Microsoft also said that the hackers were able to access content on about 6 percent of users.

Is That the Complete Scope of the Breach?

Not necessarily.

“At this time the impact of this particular breach is still under investigation,” noted Swinburne Charles of Checksum Systems, a Toronto IT services company. “However, overall it would not surprise any security expert that far more users were affected. The mere fact that the Microsoft support engineer’s credentials were affected so long would imply that the perpetrators had unfettered access to millions of email addresses and could have simply ‘botted’ their way around those mailboxes, scraping information such as name, email address, mail subject, and message body.”

Phil Cardone of Radius Executive IT, a Boston-area IT company, pointed out that Microsoft support technicians do not have access to end-user protected data. “This breach could have been much worse if the hackers had destructive intent and compromised the integrity of the Microsoft Office 365 environment,” Cardone said.

“The impact of this attack shows how vulnerable we all are to hacking,” added Anthony Buonaspina of Long Island, New York-based IT support company LI Tech Advisors. “Even through no fault of our own, our information can be compromised by a lapse in security by some individual at a company that maintains our information. It’s scary that these types of hacks can happen without our knowledge and we may or may not even get notified for months after an attack.”

What Should I Do If I Have an MSN, Hotmail or Outlook Account?

In cases like this, it’s important to take precautionary steps, whether or not your account is affected.

“Users should continue to employ safe email practices, keeping an eye out for an increase in phishing emails designed to solicit a response,” said Sarah Ober of Washington, D.C.-based IT company Intelice. “Attackers gained access to email addresses of contacts and had visibility into subject lines of emails, which could be used in targeted attacks.”

Buonaspina, Cardone and Charles all urged users to change their passwords immediately. Charles noted that companies “should not skimp” on deploying two-factor or multi-factor authorization for systems and applications. Cardone encouraged global account administrators to firm up security on Office 365 tenant accounts and using Office 365 Secure Score to assess and provision as many precautions as possible.

Is This Attack Like Other Ongoing Breaches or Is Something More Significant about This One?

“This attack is like many other ongoing breaches where soft passwords or internal security procedures are lax, allowing for security breaches like we see with Microsoft,” Buonaspina said. “What’s more significant about this one is that it undermines our trust in a major corporation. If they can’t get it right, how the hell are smaller, less security-minded companies supposed to keep their data and their clients’ data safe?”

Ober noted the need for end-user vigilance. “One concerning part about this breach was that it involved compromised credentials of a Microsoft support technician, and lasted for multiple months before being remediated,” she said. “It highlights the importance for all support staff to be vigilant with their own chain of security, as it is only as strong as the weakest link.”

“This attack went after the back-end system infrastructure versus the actual end-user experience,” Cardone explained. “A typical breach may affect day-to-day interactions between people and organizations, whereas this attack could have affected the structural integrity of the Microsoft Office 365 system infrastructure. This could have been much worse than it was.”

Podcasts are huge these days. Popular podcast Serial has been downloaded millions of times and has become a pop culture phenomenon right alongside other “did they really do it” series like Netflix’s Making a Murderer. Podcasts are also used for informational and educational purposes. NPR offers its programs in podcast form so users can listen at their own pace. They’ve even developed programming that doesn’t broadcast on the radio. It only exists in podcast form.

The podcast has arrived, and it doesn’t appear to be going anywhere anytime soon. The question for law firms, as with any new tech innovation, is whether developing a podcast for the firm makes sense. We believe creating a podcast can be a powerful, memorable branding tool. Here are a few reasons why your firm should consider starting one.

A Branded Podcast Builds Credibility and Engagement

The problem most law firms face isn’t competence. The process of becoming a lawyer usually takes care of this. The problem firms face is getting their name out into the community effectively. You want to communicate that you’re competent and successful but at the same time approachable. Much of law firm advertising veers far in one direction or the other. You see “prestige” billboards that may communicate “you can’t afford me” to a good portion of the community, and you see cheesy TV commercials that communicate “we’re not a serious firm” to another portion of the community.

Creating a podcast is a low-cost, low-effort way to engage with your community. You can communicate in a down-to-earth fashion by just being yourself. You can use a podcast to indirectly convince community members of your ability and skill, and you can disarm the negative notions that can come from prestige advertising.

It’s an Inexpensive Advertising Tool

Another advantage of podcasting is cost. It’s very inexpensive to produce a podcast, and it costs nothing to host it. All you need to produce it is some simple audio recording equipment and a topic that you can discuss. Hosting a podcast is a simple affair using a hosting tool like Libsyn. Hosting tools like this one will automatically publish your podcast to iTunes and all the other major podcast services. Once your content is published, you can promote your podcast using your existing social media channels through both regular and paid posts.

Compare this to the costs of producing video for social and the costs of traditional advertising. To produce social video, you’ll have to invest in video recording equipment. If you want a quality product, you’ll probably end up having to hire a video production group to produce them. Then, consider traditional print and TV advertising. The costs are astronomical compared to the costs of producing a podcast.

It’s an Attractive Alternative to Video

Let’s be honest: we don’t all look like the beautiful pretend lawyers on Suits. Even if you are blessed with great looks, you may not be comfortable in front of the camera. If video makes you look shifty, insecure, or nervous, you’re not helping your firm’s advertising efforts. Focusing your efforts on a podcast avoids the difficulties and aesthetic concerns that come with video.

The other issue with video is that they need to be short. Videos, especially in advertising, need to be fairly “snackable.” Podcasts, on the other hand, can take a deeper dive. People often listen on their commute or at the gym, so they are looking for content of a certain length. Going deeper on a given topic is one way to reaffirm your credibility, too.

Getting Started

If you’re ready to start a podcast for your firm here’s a brief guide to the steps you need to take.

Equipment

You can record audio using the internal microphone on your laptop, but it won’t sound very good. Invest in a midrange USB microphone, like the Snowball or Yeti from Blue. The difference in sound quality will astound you. You can easily record one or two people around a microphone like those. If you plan to invite more than one guest onto your podcast, you may need an additional microphone.

Software

If you’re recording only one microphone, your software needs are simple. Free recording and editing programs like Audacity for PC and GarageBand for Mac will do just about everything you need. Call Recorder for Skype is an inexpensive Mac app that will simplify things for you, too. We recommend starting with this simple setup before exploring multi-mic (multi-track) recording. Once you’re familiar with the basic principles, you’ll have an easier time scaling up.

Topics and Launch

All that’s left is to come up with some topics and get going. Choose topics community members are likely wondering about and answer whatever questions they may have. This is a tool for getting clients in the door. Choose topics that offer as much value as possible, topics people will want to listen to.

All that’s left is to launch. Hit record, start talking, and publish!

Businesses spend a significant amount on their software solutions, but 94 percent of them don’t get the expected value out of them. Many roadblocks stand in the way of bringing new solutions into the office, from a lack of consideration for the end user to choosing platforms that can’t scale with the company’s growth.

Problems During Procurement

The issues start during the procurement process. End-user feedback is essential for choosing software that will boost productivity and provide an adequate return on investment. If you lack end-user buy-in, then they’re not going to be enthusiastic about a system that’s not making their work life better. Make it easy for employees to send in feedback about the new software options throughout the procurement process. Emphasize the benefits of the new platform to workers.

Insufficient Training

Once the software is in place, workers may have a hard time with its functionality if they lack sufficient training. A change management plan should include multiple training resources and sufficient time for the end users to learn about the new solution and what they can do with it. The training should begin once you make a decision on the solution you’re deploying.

Clashes With Current Workflows

The software may require people to deviate too far from well-established workflows. Consider the current workflows and manual processes that are in place. The solution should replace time-consuming manual tasks and those that are prone to human error. Streamline current workflows without completely doing away with their structure. Employees will appreciate the familiar workflows and improvements in speed and efficiency.

Using Off the Shelf Software for Complex Problems

Off the shelf software is attractive for the speed of deployment and lower cost than custom development. However, specialized industries may require functionality that is not available with a standard solution. Workarounds may take too much time and effort. The opportunity cost can be far greater than the custom development price.

Lack of Centralized Data

Siloed data can lead to many problems, including repeated work, time wasted trying to find files, and lost data. Bringing data together in a central database is an important feature for any system that you’re deploying in your organization.

Difficulty with Content Sharing and Collaboration

Documents get shared and teams work together on a regular basis. The solution that you choose should support these activities. If you use the centralized data suggestion above, then streamlining content sharing is not difficult. Many modern solutions also include collaboration features to allow teams to easily work together.

Grow with Company

You might not know what your growth rate will look like in five years, but you do need software that can adapt to your changing needs over the years. If you purchase a solution that is built for your current capacity and nothing more, then it’s going to fail as your organization grows. It’s common for cloud-based solutions to allow you to scale up and down seamlessly as demand changes.

It’s important to diagnose why employees refuse to use the software offered to them. Once you understand why they aren’t enthusiastic, you can address the underlying issues and present new options.

Medical appointments and doctors’ visits are not enough. Patients want more contact with their healthcare providers, without necessarily needing to schedule more appointments and spend more time in the waiting room. 74% of patients polled in a recent West survey expressed a desire for more communication beyond the medical office visit.

This hunger for more communication parallels the growing role of digital communication in daily life. These same patients note that they are 21% less likely to call their medical providers than they were merely seven years ago. Rather than pick up the phone, patients want to use digital channels—the same ones that they’re already using for other communication—to maintain communication with their healthcare team.

How communications preferences have recently shifted

A recent study by Duke University addresses digital communication in the clinical setting beyond just personal preferences. Their studies found that over 95% of the American population has a cell phone, making it a tool for healthcare providers to leverage. But the standout piece of data, in a world that wonders about deliverability and whether messaging is actually getting through to intended audiences, is that over 90% of text messages are read—and within three minutes of transmittal. This data carries over across all age groups and socioeconomic demographics.

University of Toronto researchers supported this data with their research on the different impacts that text and email have on conveying a particular message. They found that text messaging conferred a higher level of urgency, and therefore function better around task-oriented reminders. Emails are better received than phone calls—19% of millennials don’t even listen to their voicemails—but are better for lengthier context-setting or other more detailed information transmittals.

What provider communications patients currently want between appointments

Patients want contact that aligns with the digital channels that they are using. Social media engagement can be useful for general knowledge-sharing around trends, treatments, and even regulation, but social media is not where the public is hungry for provider engagement. They want personal contact along the two channels they engage with the most each day: texting and email.

Texting

Minimal-to-no onboarding is needed for patients via texting since they are already using this to communicate with everyone from loved ones through coworkers. Consistently greater than five out of every ten patients polled preferred text communication about all logistical aspects of their medical visits, including setting-up and confirming appointments, post-operative instructions, payment issues, and even the transmission of lab results.

The good news is that from 2017 to 2018, the number of patients texting with their providers increased from 5% to 17%. This indicates increased adoption of digital communication channels on the part of healthcare providers. However, this 17% figure is still low, particularly compared to the 69% of patients who explicitly noted the desire to communicate more with their providers.

While HIPAA compliance has been a big obstacle to personalized text message transmission—which might accidentally bleed PHI if providers are not careful—there are simple ways to structure this message to avoid sending over PHI, while still delivering what patients need.

Email

Email can help resolve some longer-term or more complicated issues faced by patients. For starters, email can help add transparency to billing and insurance coverage. Even in advance of visits—and surely after—estimates of treatment costs can be sent, broken down into highly itemized detail. This allows patients to make informed treatment decisions based on what they can afford, or even contest charges with ther insurance companies. Cost visibility and transparency is another way to build trust and rapport with patients, which will reinforce a positive clinical relationship.

Email correspondence is less urgent than text messaging, but still timely and pressing. Because of this, it can be a powerful tool for reminders as well as education. Some patients have chronic diseases, but ongoing education and community-building can be helpful in managing their conditions; this can be achieved through regular emails. Healthy and ill individuals alike can benefit from education regarding disease prevention and wellness, which is easily transmitted via emails.

There’s an additional layer of education inherent to this information sharing, relevant to expectation management. By owning the sharing of reliable medication, a provider helps guide their patients to quality information and thus reduces the likelihood of misinformation. Pointing patients in the direction of useful resources has further benefits by structuring their vocabulary, and conveying the sorts of topics and conditions around which the provider is an expert to be consulted. Rather than bombarding patients with this information during the time of an office visit, this allows patients to absorb information at their own time and pace; office visits, in turn, become more focused around acute conditions as well as examinations and other activities that require face-to-face interaction.

Surveys

This one might come as a surprise, but 53% of patients are open to completing surveys for their healthcare. Surveys help standardize responses and reliably collect answers. While this can also provide statistics that could be useful for research and professional discussions, this can directly and positively impact patients by ensuring they get the appropriate medical response—and quickly, because specific replies can automatically trigger particular pathways and flag providers to take action.

Some health situations work better than others for survey follow-ups. Chronic conditions, new medication, recent procedures, and hospitalizations are some of the common patient experiences where surveys could help track outcomes and make sure providers intervene when necessary.

How healthcare can use automation on these channels to strengthen connections with patients

Patients don’t need to see the details behind the digital solutions put into place; they need to feel the effects of these solutions through the perception that they can reach their providers when needed. And if providers—with schedules already jampacked—are effectively increasing their availability to patients by opening up new lines of communication, something’s gotta give. This is where automation comes into play.

Implementing digital solutions in the health space comes with some upfront set-up and ongoing maintenance, but it also opens the door for the use of tools to automate parts of patient correspondence. These changes create a more positive patient experience, and drive patients to experience partnership with their providers in ways that could encourage their compliance and hence generate better outcomes.

What does this look like? Automate reminders and follow-up surveys to keep patients on track, and use chatbots strategically to help field the easiest and most common questions that pop up. Automation allows for easier, consistent follow-ups with patients after procedures and hospitalization, allowing for earlier interception of any issues. Treatment adherence can be reinforced with automated reminders, without utilizing support team and administrative time.

Using automation frees up provider time for cases that require one-on-one attention, or even generally allows more time for patient consults. Without compromising bedside manner—if anything, enhancing it—providers can increase the amount of support they give to their patients, while freeing up more time of their own.

The healthcare industry has been slow to adopt these new digital communications channels. As a result, providers are missing out on opportunities to connect with their patients and give them the modernized healthcare experience that they seek. Above, we have broken down the key trends in digital communication. We’ve addressed the key directions in which healthcare providers can move in order to stay up-to-date and well-connected with their patients. Even if a comprehensive overhaul of digital communications is not possible, just implementing one of the strategies listed above could go a long way in reinforcing positivity in the provider-patient relationship. Progress is being made constantly to improve security in ways that help ensure HIPAA compliance, and so there really is no reason to abstain from pursuing these trends and giving patients the digital communications experience they’re seeking.

 

One of the most challenging parts of owning your own business is having to continually prove yourself as an expert in your field to each new client. No matter how many times it happens, having someone look at you skeptically as you introduce your products or services can be a blow — not to mention a time drain that could better be spent digging into the needs of your prospect and how you can help solve them. Fortunately, there’s a quick productivity hack that will not only grow your business, but it will ensure that your clients already view you as an expert in your field . . . before you ever meet.

Personal Marketing is Key to Sales

Regardless of which line of business you’re in, you know that building relationships is the key to getting things done. Whether that means working hard to maintain good relationships with your vendors or finding ways to help clients be more successful, this personal marketing is a required part of any growing business. When you are the business owner, this can mean that you spend a significant portion of your time speaking to people and learning the landscape of their business before you are able to promote your own needs. Anytime you’re able to produce content online that educates others, you are one step closer to building that personal relationship before the first time you speak with your prospects.

Don’t I Know You?

You don’t go into a sales call with a bland, boring persona that lacks personal details, so why should your marketing be blah? You have to find ways to incorporate your unique flashes of brilliance into your online marketing, which will help people feel as though you are old friends before the conversation starts. Don’t be afraid to discuss your business challenges or share personal tidbits that might be of interest as part of videos. While prospects are always doing some form of research online, finding someone who engages their interest and feels personable and relatable means prospects are much more likely to turn into customers in the future.

Creating an ongoing library of searchable content helps to present you as an expert in your particular field, a crucial differentiation when there’s a crowded marketplace full of competitors waiting to steal your thunder. These educational pieces are often the first introduction between yourself and your customer and allow you to start the conversation on a positive note. Your prospects will appreciate that you were generous with your time in creating the content and you’re honing your presentation skills and messaging at each turn: win, win!