One of the biggest mistakes physicians and practice managers can make is to assume they will not be a target of cyberattacks. Unfortunately, this is absolutely untrue. Recently, a two-physician practice in West Michigan was the victim of a ransomware attack. The practice lost access to all medical records, billing, scheduling, and other critical data after ransomware … [Read more...] about My Practice will Never be Hit by Ransomware
Using Health IT
Guide for Choosing Passwords
Why Do I Have to Change my Password Again? Medical practices can be hectic environments, with everyone having seemingly one million things to do. Coming up with a new password can feel like just one more thing no one has time to do. The first thing you think of is your anniversary or your pet’s name; great—you’re done. Wrong! By choosing a weak password, … [Read more...] about Guide for Choosing Passwords
The Perils of Phishing—Hook, Line, and Sinker
Phishing is a type of cyberattack using email to trick someone into divulging personal information, including passwords. Health care phishing is growing because of the value of health care data coupled with the fact that everyone in a medical practice has an email and can be a target. In a phish, the attacker masquerades as a reputable entity or person, via email or … [Read more...] about The Perils of Phishing—Hook, Line, and Sinker
What Do Physicians Need to Know About Website Development?
Just like physicians, web developers have their own specialized jargon, including terms like responsive design, search engine optimization (SEO), hypertext markup language (HTML), cascading style sheets (CSS), JavaScript,hypertext preprocessor (PHP), and backend design. Doctors don’t expect lay people to know their jargon (arthroscopic, … [Read more...] about What Do Physicians Need to Know About Website Development?
Should Medical Practices Worry About Cyberattacks?
Healthcare organizations are prime targets of cyberattacks because of the importance and value of patient data. Even a small practice with several physicians will accumulate tens of thousands of patient records over several years of operation. These records include essentially everything about each person: name, address, phone number, email, social security number, insurance … [Read more...] about Should Medical Practices Worry About Cyberattacks?