What Makes a HIPAA Compliant Data Center?
“Is your data center HIPAA compliant?” We hear that question all the time from the owners of small businesses in the healthcare field—from one-doctor medical practices to health insurance brokerages—as they shop around for a host for their medical records systems, email, data storage, and other IT functions. It’s a broad question. The short answer […]
Checklist: 22 Ways to Maximize Uptime
Uptime is probably the single most important part of your IT setup – because downtime cost you your company’s time and money. Depending on your company, maybe your team could survive a whole day without email access (it might be a pain in the butt, but it could be done). But what if you don’t have that […]
HIPAA Compliance in Google Apps vs. Hosted Desktops
Can you trust Google Apps with your healthcare organization’s data? Google products are known for their power, usability, and low cost, so it’s no wonder so many small businesses, fed up with the hassle and headache of maintaining their own IT systems, have migrated onto Google’s popular suite of cloud-based productivity apps. But compliance has […]
The Most Common HIPAA Myth: “Of Course We’re Compliant…”
Whenever we audit or consult for clients in the healthcare industry, we always ask if they think they are HIPAA compliant. More often than not, the answer is, “Of course we are.” And more often than not, they’re wrong. The most frequent reason small healthcare businesses fail to comply with the Security Rule of the Health […]
Why Cloud Solutions are Actually BETTER for HIPAA Compliance
Your small medical practice doesn’t have much in common with mega-large hospitals and medical centers, except this: You’re as responsible for complying with the Security Rule of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) as they are. You have to keep your patients’ personal health information—in all forms, hard copy and digital—as secure as […]
How to Reduce Your PCI Compliance Risk by Using an IT Partner
Many small business owners are the ones obligated to wear the “IT hat” in their organization. And why not? When you’re a growing business, hiring IT help for daily operations just isn’t a high priority – or in the budget. Instead, with a little bit of research, many business owners feel they (or their office […]
12 Steps to PCI DSS Compliance (Part 2)
This is Part 2 in a 2-part series on the 12 requirements of PCI DSS. For Part 1, click here. Last week we started our review of the first 6 of the 12 requirements of the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS). Just to recap, these are the rules regarding information security that every business […]
12 Steps to PCI DSS Compliance (Part 1)
This is Part 1 in a 2-part series on the 12 requirements of PCI DSS. If you run a small business that handles credit and debit cards, your business is subject to the rules of the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS). Most small business owners know by now that they need to […]
HIPAA IT 101: 7 IT Requirements to Help Ensure You’re Compliant
As a small business owner in the healthcare industry, just hearing the term HIPAA (aka the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996) may evoke some anxiety. While every business owner that I’ve worked with certainly wants to protect their clients’ sensitive health information (referred to as ePHI—electronic personal health information), most are unsure […]