Physicians Practice - April 2008 - (Page 49)

TECHNOLOGY DO YOU KNOW WHERE YOUR DATA IS? BY ROBERT ANTHONY FIVE EASY STEPS TO TOTAL TECH SECURITY Your practice has implemented an EMR, and the software vendor has made it compatible with your practice management system. Maybe you even submit claims and receive lab results and EOBs electronically. And why shouldn’t you? It’s fast, easy, and automated. It can also be dangerous. In the rush to move practices into the 21st century, security is sometimes the ﬁrst casualty. Every practice wants the electronic tools that will make it the most efﬁcient, but — let’s be honest — most practice administrators and physicians don’t know much more about computers than how to plug them in. “As more and more of us convert to the electronic environment, we’re really entering some unknown IN SUMMARY The world of computer network security is confusing and always changing, but medical practices don’t need IT certiﬁcation to understand how to keep their patient and practice information secure from prying eyes. Be sure to: • Install a ﬁrewall to restrict outside access to your system. • Encrypt e-mails when sending messages to people outside your network, and establish a Web site where individual patients can log in to access their personal information. what security measures they offer. data to multiple sources both on- and off-site. • Ask your existing software vendors • Back up your practice’s network • Establish ﬁrm guidelines for employee computer use and stick to them. territory,” says Susan Miller, administrator for Family Practice Associates of Lexington, Ky. Miller, whose practice has been using electronic management tools since 1999, knows just how daunting a task Internet and computer security can be, but she also knows how important it is. Under HIPAA regulations, every practice must take steps to protect the conﬁdentiality of electronic patient information. Failure to take those steps not only exposes your patients to risk and potential fraud, but it can also result in some pretty steep penalties: Civil penalties for noncompliance can cost you $100 per violation (that’s per patient record!), or up to $25,000 per year; criminal penalties could cost you as much as $250,000 and ten years in prison! The good news is that electronic security doesn’t have to be complicated. Follow these ﬁve easy steps, and you’ll be on your way to an efﬁcient electronic environment that is safe for you and your patients. 1. USE A FIREWALL Most of us have probably heard this term, but how many really know what a “ﬁrewall” is? Yet in a busy medical practice running multiple workstations, “the basic foundation of a network is [having] a good ﬁrewall,” says Kyle Chang, manager of IT services with The Coker Group, a healthcare management consulting ﬁrm in Alpharetta, Ga. Basically, a ﬁrewall is a software application that monitors information passing into and out of your network. Based on a set of rules that you define, your firewall determines APRIL 2008 | PHYSICIANS PRACTICE | WWW.PHYSICIANSPRACTICE.COM 49 http://WWW.PHYSICIANSPRACTICE.COM

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Physicians Practice - April 2008

Physicians Practice - April 2008 Contents The Bigger Picture: Medicare Decision Time Letters Physicians Practice Pearls: Outsource Your Pain Noteworthy Cover Story: Trial Lawyers Tell All Management: When It’s Time to Change Ask the Experts Technology: Do You Know Where Your Data Is? The Tech Doctor: Are Your Discarded PCs Really Clean? Billing & Collections: Playing Hardball The Administrator's Desk: Recruiting for Patient Satisfaction Start It Up: Finance - Mastering the Numbers Game Coding The Great Practice Makeover: Taking Care of Business Associates Classifieds Advertiser Index

Physicians Practice - April 2008

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