In a perfect world, all health data would be located in a central database. A patient’s records would be readily available to anyone who accessed them, painting a clear picture of their medical history from birth forward. Medical staff could easily see every interaction they had with a medical team, no matter where it occurred.

When you hire an employee, you put your trust in that employee that they will always do the right thing. They will work hard and do their job well while working for you.

Of course, that doesn’t always happen. The news is filled with stories of employees who are anything but good employees.

Humans thrive on ease. If you want a way in, look for the open door.

And for hackers, that often means email.

So far in 2021, tens of thousands of email servers using Microsoft’s Exchange Server software have been hacked. According to Microsoft, hackers gained access to email accounts, and used malware to create an open pathway for later use.

The medical industry as a whole can be a stressful environment. Add in a pandemic, and things move to entirely new levels.

For leadership, that means gaining skills they’ve never needed before. Skills that are changing at warp speed.

A recent Deloitte survey found that:

88 percent of respondents stated advances in technology are their greatest challenge, followed by changes in policy and regulatory activity.

There are many reasons it makes sense to add a public cloud environment to your business. Especially in a busy location, visitors, patients, and guests might demand it.

Unfortunately, being in the medical industry, you have a big hurdle to overcome before you implement: HIPAA.

HIPAA regulates how access points and data protection services are handled for protecting sensitive personal health information.

Here in the heart of winter, dangerous ice storms have left millions without power or internet access. Tens of thousands are still trying to navigate outages in Oregon. Millions are dealing with the cold and nowhere to go in Texas.

While the authorities deal with the mess, individuals are taking control in whatever way they can.

How did you implement your IT strategy into your business model?

Did you buy a few computers because you needed them, and invest in a few programs because they made sense for building your practice? That’s where most people start. They fall into a way of doing business rather than thinking and planning it out.

It’s easy to get excited about bells and whistles, inflated promises, and new programs or tools that promise the world.

We’ve been through a lot this past year. When you’ve changed everything, implemented new technology in weeks instead of months, it’s easy to jump at the latest and greatest things.

Cloud computing is often something practices fall into instead of taking the time to learn more about it. They lump everything together that they know about cloud computing, and never take the time to demystify it and determine if they are using it correctly.

A massive switch happened in 2020. Chances are you saw every aspect of your business change in just a few short months.

Have you implemented new services, added contactless systems, even allowed more opportunities for employees to work from home? Welcome to the new way of doing business.