We cannot deny the fact that we are becoming more and more dependent upon technology. And the bigger and longer your careers get, the more devastating it would be if you are not ready when some important component of your system fails.
It could be something as simple as a power outrage, or something potentially much more devastating such as the willful act of a former employee.
In any case, you run the risk of taking a potentially devastating blow if your data is not safe and secure. You can end up rebuilding your system and database for weeks, even months. The end result can be damaging to your daily operation.
About one week ago, we suffered in our practice a catastrophic server failure. We were lucky to have a redundant system and back up. No data files were lost. However, rebuilding the system and getting it up and running again has been a major project.
Luckily, due to the work of great professionals both hardware and software, we are almost back to 100 percent.
We know that our data preservation systems and back up were good, but we are still taking extra steps to make it even better.
Here are some simple tips that will help you preserve data integrity.
First, make sure you take a hard and external back up off site, every day. This way, if disaster strikes, the most you could lose is less than a day's worth of data.
Second, make sure both your hardware and software support teams will be there for you, when disaster strikes. You need a support team that can get your system back up as soon as possible. You also want to make sure that your servers are running mirrored drives, and that their integrity is regularly checked.
Third, it's important that your staff office policy and compliance plan has well-defined technology (internet) violation penalties. Also, make sure that your staff members follow this policy. Be ready to strictly implement them. Implementation is just as important as the policy itself.
Finally, make sure that your office systems such as data entry and patient management systems are simultaneous and on paper, so when the time comes for data updating and reentry, the job is made infinitely easier and faster.
A couple of very simple paper systems here will keep you fully operational, and able to collect payments, and code patient data for electronic entry.
We will have much more on this, as the complexity of data systems, as well as their service potential to you continues to escalate with each passing month.
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Dr. John Hayes, Jr. is an Evvy Award Nominee and author of
Living and Practicing by Design. Know more about his unique approaches to private practice success, visit
http://perfectpracticeweb.com/ and register for a FREE CD and Info Pack.
