Electronic protected health information (ePHI) is extremely private and its exposure could lead to negative consequences such as social stigma and job discrimination. HIPAA protects this information and grants patients the right to view their own health information so that they can enjoy more control over their care. Healthcare practices must therefore make sure that they got all their bases covered when it comes to HIPAA compliance. Below are four of the most important ones to consider.

Telehealth and mHealth are not always compliant

If your practice has invested in, or is thinking about investing in, telehealth or mobile health (mHealth), you need to make sure that the tech you utilize is HIPAA-compliant. While most telehealth technology is HIPAA-approved, one or two additional measures might be required to make it compliant. An IT specialist should have no problem making sure your telehealth is up to code.

On the other hand, mHealth might be a little more problematic. While a lot of hardware and apps, including Fitbit and the Apple Watch, are HIPAA-compliant, it is a field that is still very new and constantly changing. Your best bet is to consult with an expert to make sure your mHealth services are following all the necessary regulations.

All info, not just EHRs, needs to be HIPAA-compliant

If your office has individually identifiable ePHI data on site, including information like billing records, appointment information, and test results, they must be kept on HIPAA-compliant devices and servers. A lot of medical practices that use cloud-based storage for their EHRs overlook this fact and opt for low-cost platforms that don’t meet certain minimums. While it’s good to have your EHRs ready to go on the cloud, make sure that your non-EHR data is protected as well. If it isn’t, you could be facing a fine.

Your protected health information notice must be available online

If your practice has a website, HIPAA’s rules dictate that it must contain a copy of your updated protected health information notice for patients to access. If you have a website and this information is not currently posted, rectify this as soon as possible to avoid any problems.

Healthcare business associates must also be HIPAA-compliant

Conformity to HIPAA regulations is not just limited to medical practices, healthcare clearinghouses, and health plan organizations. Any business that has access, electronic or otherwise, to protected health information is also required by law to be HIPAA-compliant. This includes any accounting or law firms you work with that may already be accessing your files electronically to carry out work.

To avoid any potential trouble for your practice or its partners, it is best to ask them if they are HIPAA-compliant before partnering with them. If they aren’t, revoke all data access privileges, and make sure they take action to correct this issue immediately.

Still not sure if you’re 100% HIPAA-compliant? Our team of experts can run the necessary risk analysis and correct issues with your technology that may not be in line with current regulations. Just give us a call today.

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The internet browser is a special kind of software. No two products share the same functions and features, and most of them can be downloaded at no charge. This gives you many options when it comes to selecting the ideal browser, and the myriad of choices may make it difficult to choose. Here are some of the pros and cons of the four popular web browsers.

Google Chrome
By just about any metric, Google Chrome has been the browser of choice for most internet users over the last couple years. It’s easy to use and its graphics interface has a low profile. However, if you want to customize Chrome with extensions and apps, there are more than enough options. The bottom line is: this is the best browser for users who spend a lot of time in G-Suite documents, or want the security benefits of frequent patches and updates.

Apple Safari
We might as well start off with the one, glaring drawback of Safari: It’s available only to Apple users. However, if you are working on a macOS or iOS device, Safari has a lot going for it. Ad blocking is built right into the browser, as well as RSS support for aggregating lots of information in one place. And because tabs can be automatically synced across all your Apple devices, we highly recommend Safari for anyone in a Mac environment.

Microsoft Edge
Note that Edge is a different browser than Internet Explorer. The latter still exists, but we’ve decided to skip it for various reasons. Although Edge works only on Windows 10 systems, it has two things going for it. First, Microsoft has announced a feature that will incorporate virtualization into Edge to quarantine downloads for testing before they’re opened on your computer. Second, the Windows 10 browser comes with some fantastic Office 365 integration. We highly recommend Edge for users working in a business enterprise environment.

Opera
We’ve saved the most controversial for last. The Opera browser isn’t one of the most popular browsers around, but it does deserve consideration. Although it requires more customization and under-the-hood-work than its competitors, its privacy settings are unmatched. With a built-in virtual private network feature and some of the most robust ad blocking on the market, Opera is a great way to take a break from cookies and targeted advertisements.

Choosing a web browser may seem like such an inconsequential thing, but just think about the rate of cloud adoption. If you plan on utilizing more software-as-a-service solutions in the coming years, one tiny feature in a browser could make all the difference. Contact us today about planning your cloud deployment over the coming years.

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Google Assistant is essentially the next generation of Google Now. It performs all of the same tasks as Google Now, such as scheduling events and web searching, but has a better, more conversational interface. For a crash course in some of Google’s best AI-powered voice-commands, take a look at five of our favorites.

Before you can start playing with Google’s AI, you need to turn on the service. On your Android device, press and hold the home key at the bottom of the screen. This will open the Google Assistant interface. Tap Next on the “Meet your personal Google Assistant” screen, then tap Continue on the next screen to enable permissions.

If you’re prompted to configure voice activation, simply repeat “OK Google” three times and you’re good to go! Turn it on and try some of the examples below.

Tip #1: Reminders

Google Assistant helps with information discovery, but what about when you just need a little help managing your calendar? The phrase “Remind me to [action] + [time]” is all you need to set a quick reminder before you have a chance to manually add it to your calendar.

And if you’re not sure when you need to be reminded, ask Google to set the notification based on location. If you have location services enabled, your phone will prompt you next time you’re near the store. For instance, if you set a reminder to get eggs at the supermarket, your phone will prompt you next time you're near one.

Tip #2: Anything involving your clock app

Whether you want to “Set an alarm/time for [time]” to achieve productivity goals, or you need to know “What time is it in ” before calling a client in another time zone, Google Assistant can essentially perform any task from your native clock app with a simple request.

Tip #3: Convert/calculate anything

You can even command Google Assistant to calculate currencies, units of measurement, and simple sums. For example, “What is X dollars in euros?” could help you easily convert the price of an invoice, or “How many feet are in X yards?” could shorten the time required to calculate how much material you need to order for a new product.

Tip #4: Retrieve documents from Gmail

You may have also noticed that important documents from your email account occasionally show up at the top of a search page. That’s because Google can recognize official documents such as flight itineraries, hotel receipts, and utility bills. Just say “Show me my flight to Phoenix” and Google Assistant will pull it up immediately.

Tip #5: Basic phone commands

The majority of the applications that came with your phone can receive voice commands. “Take a photo,” “Open acme.com,” “Turn on Wi-Fi,” and “Open Salesforce1,” are just some of the ways you can minimize the time you spend tapping your phone.

Believe it or not, there are dozens more commands that can make your life easier. Spend a few moments tinkering with your Google Assistant and give us a call today to find out more.

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Whether you’re a newbie or an expert in search engine optimization (SEO), the field changes so often that it can be overwhelming. That can be pretty frustrating since businesses of any size need to get people to their sites in order to really grow in our web-driven culture. Thankfully, there are a few tried-and-true methods for improving your position in Google’s index.

Make sure you’re indexed by Google

Go to Google.com and search ‘site:’ with your website domain listed after the colon (example: ‘site:acme.com’). If you don’t see any results from your page listed, that means Google hasn’t added your site to its search results yet. Although some advisers recommend filling out a request form that Google offers, there is a much faster way to get recognized by the search giant.

Google is constantly scanning web pages for updates in content to include in their search results. When they see a link to an external site on one of their already indexed pages, Google will add that link to the queue of new sites to be scanned and indexed. If you can get your domain name linked on a popular or trusted page, you’ll start seeing your page in the search results in no time.

Go out and get more links

The more links to your site from external pages, the higher you climb in the search results. Other than getting affiliate businesses to link you on their pages, consider managing a blog or RSS feed. Content generation not only promotes interest and traffic in your site, it also lets you submit yourself to blog directories or news aggregator sites like Feedly and Alltop which compile source materials and get you those external links.

Fine-tune your content

Be very careful not to change any of your core ‘permalinks’. If users have links that direct them to pages that can’t be found, it could affect your site’s ranking. Keep your pages live, and keep them named efficiently. Some website platforms, like WordPress, use default link structures that create complicated, number-based links that can be off-putting to users and confusing to administrators and search engine indexers. If possible, make sure your links use category and page title references for more appealing links and organizational structure.

Measure and track your ranking

Just because you believe your site has achieved a desirable ranking on Google doesn’t mean it will stay there. Stay proactive and never let yourself get lazy with your content production, site management, and SEO monitoring — it could mean the difference between moving up the search page, and disappearing from it altogether. Online tools like Cyfe and Google Analytics give you a more in-depth look at your site traffic and external links so you’re always ahead of the competition.

Optimizing your Google page indexing can be daunting. For more information on how to get your site moving up the ladder. Contact us today.

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