In today’s modern dental industry, most practices are trying to maintain optimal efficiency while getting used to working in a technology-dependent environment. As a result of their growing dependence on electronic data, dental practices are becoming increasingly vulnerable to cyber attacks.
Why? Because they hold a massive amount of data: names, health histories, birthdates, credit card information, social security numbers, and more of hundreds of patients. Unfortunately, a cyber security breach can wreak havoc on a dental practice – impacting the practice’s financial state and reputation.
Canadian dental practices simply cannot afford to cut corners when it comes to protecting patient data.
Dr. Jeff Barnes, a dentist from Twelfth and 8th Dental in Calgary, Alta., runs a paperless practice wherein he stores a lot of confidential information regarding his patients. He understands the importance of protecting patient data – and he made it very clear:
“If we had a breach, we’d have to let the Alberta government know, then we’d have to contact all of our patients to let me know. It would be detrimental! They trust us with their information and their health. It’s of the utmost importance that they’re protected.”
Aside from the reputational impact of a breach, there are also regulations to think about: when a dental practice fails to safeguard data, they risk getting a hefty fine for non-compliance. These hefty fines alone could easily put a dental practice out of business.
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Twelfth and 8th Dental makes a smart decision by working with Calgary MSP Caffeinated Computers to keep patients safe.
Dr. Barnes explained: “What scared me was the thought of a confidentiality breach, someone hi-jacking the computer system. Since Jon [President of Caffeinated Computers] came aboard, I know my software is being protected and I know it’s being backed up.”
Caffeinated Computers provides their Bold Managed Services plan, which includes everything necessary to maintain IT security, including:
- Performance monitoring
- Major software patch management
- Anti-virus management
- Firewall maintenance and monitoring
- Firewall patch management
- Business disaster recovery and continuity
- Spam filter management
- And much, much more
This plan brings immense value to Twelfth and 8th dental, as Dr. Barnes expressed, “When we have a problem, between him and his staff, they’re right there trying to resolve it. I sleep well knowing my patient information is safe and I let my patients know we have people protecting their information.”
He continued, “When the question arises, because people are more aware of identity theft and such, I just tell them we pay a monthly fee so they’re protected. I just want my patients to know I’m doing the most I possibly can to keep them safe!”
Does your MSP firm focus on helping dental practices maintain patient confidentiality? Dentists in Canada need reliable IT services and they are turning to MSPs to help them stay secured and protected.
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