Imagine operating your practice without data. You use it for every aspect, from communicating with patients to collaborating with other practitioners.

Our world relies on data.

That’s why cybercriminals increasingly target it, and it is one of your business's most valuable assets.

The doctor rushes around the room, trying everything. But nothing works. Is there hope?

A medical resident pulls out his phone and asks ChatGPT for guidance. Can it help?

At a time like this, it’s important to remember two things:

1. ChatGPT is possibly the smartest thing in that room.

Security threats are everywhere, whether you’ve experienced a breach or not. The adage “it’s not a matter of IF, but when” applies to all healthcare businesses, no matter how big or small.

You might be excited about some of the newest technology entering the marketplace; hackers are too.

Security isn’t a “once and done” activity.

Likewise, HIPAA compliance is an ongoing process and not a one-off exercise.

Building a solid healthcare practice requires mechanisms to prevent shortcuts and workarounds from being the mainstay of your culture.

Telehealth has made substantial strides in the past few years. Prior to 2020, less than 1 percent of the total healthcare volume in the United States offered telehealth. Over half implemented it into their practices during the first few months of the pandemic.

This is the year artificial intelligence is taking the world by storm. ChatGPT has become a household name, with businesses everywhere rapidly finding ways to incorporate it into their daily activities.

But what about medical practices? Are there ways to use ChatGPT there too?

A paper published on medRxiv in December 2022 suggests that ChatGPT is capable of passing the US Medical Licensing Exam.

How much of your practice is data related? It’s the foundation for a lot of things.

It’s used to control and monitor patient care. It helps analyze workforce needs.

And because of the ability to use real-time data in all sorts of ways, we’re rethinking every part of the business.

In one day, a huge amount of data transfers throughout modern health practices. Patient data is used in many ways, including sign-in processes, reviewing protected health information (PHI), billing, biometric confirmation, third-party vendors, and more.

As a healthcare provider, you want what’s best for your patients. When you review charts, x-rays, and scans, you use the data for diagnosis to help you work together with your patient to create a treatment plan.

But what if what you’re seeing isn’t correct? What if the scan has been altered by malware, and you misdiagnose?

In a blind study, researchers altered real CT lung scans through malware, fabricating cancerous nodules.

You might have heard of the Internet of Things (IoT), but how about Internet of Bodies (IoB)? It may sound like something out of a science fiction novel, but it’s growing. It’s about using the human body as a data platform. If it sounds a little confusing (or scary), let’s dive into what it is and what challenges you can expect as we move into this new technology.