A few years ago, when a colleague of mine was switching to a cloud-based practice management system from a server-based platform, he told me how relieved he was that he could fire his IT provider and stop worrying about security. “Won’t they take care of all that?” he asked. His question reminded me of a conversation I had with one of my kids many years ago.
We were driving around in our new family car. It was a stylish, high-tech SUV, and I took great joy in pointing out the various safety features to him, airbags, computerized stability control, collision avoidance, etc. My son (always the wise guy) said, “I guess that means we don’t need to wear our seatbelts?” I’m pretty sure he was kidding because he likes to tease me, but it got me thinking about dentists, dentistry, and information technology.
One of the main reasons I switched my practice entirely to Curve Hero was the high level of effort they put into information security. Even though I’m experienced with dental IT, my core competence is taking care of patients, not computers. But I still need to do my part. I often hear my dental peers refer to their new computer systems as “HIPAA compliant” or “secure.” But security is not only in the tools we use, it’s also how we use them.
Just like my new SUV, Curve Hero is stable, secure, and well-engineered. It has been constructed with care and is updated constantly. It has innovative security features, and there is a service structure in place to handle any problems swiftly and efficiently. But I still need to do my part.
It’s just like when I’m driving my vehicle. If I take a highway offramp at 90 miles an hour or drive at night without headlights, my “safe” vehicle won’t be able to avert disaster.
When using cloud-based practice management software, carelessness or poor training can also get us in big trouble. We must have secure access to our computers, with individual passwords for every team member. We need to use two-factor authentication and have our networks protected by firewalls. We also need to properly train our employees on best security practices.
If you are not confident in doing these things for yourself, you need a qualified dental I.T. professional. (I’ve worked with SurfCT for the past 15 years). There’s no free lunch out there. Cloud-based systems can really boost your technological capabilities, improve your productivity, and lower your risk.
…… but you still need to do your part!
