Why Should You Hire HIPAA Compliance Consultants?

why should you hire hipaa compliance consultants
HIPAA compliance consultants
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Some of the most sensitive personal information involves our health and medical history.

The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) lays the groundwork for safeguarding health-related data by providing standards that companies need to meet.

If you work with any data of this kind – even as a subcontractor to another company – you must comply with HIPAA standards.

What can happen if you don’t follow HIPAA regulations?

Violating HIPAA standards can result in a range of financial penalties. These include steep fines amounting to tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars. The amount you pay depends on the number of violations, whether they’re repeat violations, how quickly you correct them, and whether or not they stem from a relatively innocent misunderstanding vs. more deliberate forms of neglect. In some situations, you may face the threat of a prison sentence.

It’s imperative to avoid HIPAA violations not just a spare yourself the legal penalties. HIPAA compliance also makes you more trustworthy to consumers and business partners. By protecting sensitive healthcare data, you reduce the chances of a costly data breach that can destroy your company’s reputation.

Hiring HIPAA compliance consultants

HIPAA compliance consultants will guide you through all the necessary steps to making your business compliant. They can assist you with implementing every safeguard. These security measures include encrypted transmissions, restricted access privileges, safe data disposal methods, audit reports, and secure data storage and backups.

As discussed in a recent article from Beta News, verifying your company’s compliance involves multiple complex steps. Including identifying your vulnerabilities and determining the risks of various security lapses. Consultants are invaluable throughout this process and with ensuring your continued compliance.

Don’t hesitate to contact us for our assistance connecting with HIPAA compliance consultants.

IT Support News: Improving Productivity with Microsoft Office 365

it support news improving productivity with microsoft office 365

Sometimes, people don’t know about useful software settings or capabilities that make work tasks easier.

Here’s one example: New updates to Microsoft Office 365 will help people organize their work better, stay more focused, and ultimately save time.

What are some of these helpful features?

  • Employs can benefit from the ability to look up articles and other reference materials without having to leave Word. This makes research more easy, while reducing the chances of getting sucked into Internet distractions, such as scrolling through Twitter or checking email unnecessarily.
  • The reference materials uncovered during the search can get automatically formatted as citations, saving time when employees compile their lists of references.
  • Changes to Outlook can facilitate focused communication with the use of mentions.

With Office 365, Microsoft regularly looks for new ways to strengthen collaboration and communication. They aim to improve work performance through automating certain tasks and allowing users to personalize settings in ways that contribute to the specific tasks they need to perform and the style of writing and communicating they prefer.

IT support personnel can help guide your company choose the best software and ensure that you and your employees know about helpful features and understand how to work with them. The potential benefits include a higher quality of work and meaningful increases in productivity.

Don’t hesitate to contact us for further advice and assistance with optimizing your use of technology.

Improving Router Security | Network Support Tips

improving router security network support tips

Improving Router Security A recent article from Alphr makes interesting predictions about the future of computer security. As people come to rely on a wider variety of Internet-enabled devices – not just their laptops or phones, but objects like thermostats, cameras, and sensors – traditional antivirus programs will likely become less important than programs designed to protect routers and entire networks of devices. This shift in focus aims to keep hackers from seizing control of any one device and then hopping over to any or all other devices on your network – including your computer.

You should still keeping using a high-quality antivirus program as an extra layer of protection for your computers. What the article remind us of is the importance of paying attention to vulnerabilities in other parts of your network. Beyond protecting specific computing devices, you need to keep in mind the overall picture of network security and strengthen various components of your network, such as your router.

What are some of the things you can do, starting today, to improve your router’s security?

  • If your router came with default admin passwords, make sure you aren’t using them. Choose a long, complex password.
  • Use powerful encryption. There are different encryption standards and protocols available. Select the ones that meet the highest, most recent standards. For example, a WPA2 encryption standard and AES encryption protocol make for a solidly secure choice.
  • Set up a guest network, so that visiting clients and business partners don’t tap into your primary network with their devices.
  • Check if the firmware for your router is up-to-date.

These are just some of the basic steps for strengthening router security. Part of our network support services involves configuring your router in the most secure way possible and monitoring your network to reduce the chances of outages and cyber attacks.

Don’t hesitate to contact us for further assistance.

Optimize Your WiFi Connection – Computer Tip of the Day

optimize your wifi connection computer tip of the day

These days, portability is king. WiFi has allowed devices to be mobile and connected. It also brings several headaches when it doesn’t work or when the signal strength is weak. Luckily, there is something you can do to optimize your WiFi without spending a dime.

Router Placement

Your router broadcasts WiFi signals in a spherical field. To get the most coverage, place your router closest to the center of the area you want to cover. Avoid placing it behind walls and floors as this will weaken signal. Thick layers of concrete, metal, or stone will also hinder WiFi signal strength.

Update Drivers and Firmware

Download and install firmware for your routers from the router manufacturer’s website or through the control panel for your router. Keeping up to date will ensure that your router has all the latest software and is free of all known bugs and performance issues. Likewise, be sure your wireless card drivers on your PCs are up to date.

Choose the Right Channels

WiFi can be slowed by other networks communicating on the same channel. When your device connects to a wireless network, it is automatically set to “listen” to the channel of that network. Your computer also “hears” noise from all other networks broadcasting WiFi on that channel. Most WiFi operates on a 2.4GHz band. Within this frequency, there are three available channels to operate on (1, 6, 11). You’ll want to choose the band with the least amount of traffic from other networks. You can use an app like WiFi Analyzer for Android to scan networks and determine what channel they are operating on.

Upgrading your network infrastructure can be as simple as adding a single range extender and soon you will see huge performance increases. Contact us to see how we make your WiFi perform it’s best.

Questions to Ask When Outsourcing IT Support

questions to ask when outsourcing it support

it support

Just about every business needs IT support to operate smoothly and efficiently. While some businesses opt to have an entire IT department on site, many choose to outsource IT support to receive the same quality services at a lower cost.

If you’re thinking about outsourcing IT support, here are two questions you should ask service providers.

Do you have experience serving businesses in my industry?

Technology needs for businesses differ from industry to industry. For example, a business in the restaurant industry won’t have the same technology needs as a business in the finance industry.

Before you hire an IT support company, you should ask whether the IT experts have experience serving businesses in your industry. The answer to this question will help you ensure your technology needs will be met to a T.

What sort of customer service can I expect?

As you may know from experience, disasters can strike at any time. Therefore, you want to outsource IT support to a company that offers excellent customer service.

You should ask about the time frame in which you can expect technology issues to be resolved. That way, if your server crashes, you won’t be left wondering when the IT technicians will be on site to deal with the issue. Look for service providers that offer 24/7 customer service.

More and more businesses are transitioning to outsourced IT support due to the quality services and lower costs.

For more information about the questions you should ask when outsourcing IT support, don’t hesitate to contact us.