DATA BACKUP IN HEALTHCARE

With the massive amount of responsibilities that come with running a medical facility, backing up data is probably not the first thing on your mind. Medical professionals are often so busy that they brush off issues such as data security until they are forced to pay attention due to an unexpected problem. With a few preventative measures, however, you will never have to worry about dealing with a disaster like lost patient records or HIPAA violations.

Why It Matters

If you’ve ever experienced a computer crash then you have a good sense of how devastating it can be to lose all of your information. Now imagine that lost data not just being your own personal information, but the medical records of countless others who rely on you for healthcare. Data losses can never be predicted or even expected — but the legal and ethical blame will be on you if any records get lost or destroyed. This is why taking action now is so important!

Power outages due to weather, natural disasters, and other emergencies are infrequent, but chances are you’ll experience one at some point in your career. Moreover, cybercrime is becoming an increasingly common issue that healthcare provider are forced to deal with, and a quick glance at the news will be enough to make you realize that you never want to be faced with a security problem as serious as ransomware.

Preventing Data Loss

Doctors know more than anyone that prevention is the best cure. There are a few ways to prepare yourself for the event of an emergency power outage. The first step, of course, is to thoroughly backup all of your records. When you store the backups, however, they need to be offsite in order to prevent damage. If something happens to your office, there’s a chance that your stored drives could get destroyed as well. Storing them offsite through the cloud reduces your chances of losing vital data. In addition to proper storage, the backups need to be constantly updated. Every day can bring a new patient and more records to add to the system, so staying as up-to-date as possible is a must. These tools will ensure that power outages, security breaches, and other data safety threats have a minimal effect on your daily operations.

Planning For the Worst

Since the timing of emergencies is impossible to foresee, the most helpful thing to have is a plan of action. Make sure that your employees are aware of what to do in an event of power outage or data loss. Everyone should be able to process patients reliably on paper as well as on the computer. Although processing on paper is a last resort, you never know when or if you’ll have to use it.

For more information on healthcare IT issues, visit Enviromerica. We can ensure that you receive the best advice for optimizing your healthcare practice.