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.

Why Small Businesses Need Network Support

why small businesses need network support

Network support

All businesses need email, phone calls, computers, and live chats to ensure operations run smoothly. While small businesses need these tools as much as large businesses, they do not always recognize the benefits of network support.

Here are some of the many reasons small businesses needs support.

Business as Usual

Technology forms the backbone of the vast majority of businesses. Accordingly, if the hardware and software fails, the business also fails.

For example, if the web server for the business’ eCommerce website crashes, the small business won’t be able to sell its products and services as it normally does. Until the website is back up and running, the business will lose many sales to its competitors. Also, the business may lose its reputability in the eyes of any consumers who visit the eCommerce website while it is down.

Therefore, small businesses need support to ensure all hardware and software runs smoothly at all times.

Excellent Customer Service

One reason small businesses need network support is to provide excellent customer service. Email, live chats, and phone calls are all excellent tools to provide help desk support to customers. If your small business relies on these tools, it is important that they remain functional and glitch-free at all times. Fortunately, it will keep these tools in good order so that you can provide quality customer service 24/7.

Network support is a must for all businesses, both big and small. For more information about the importance of network support for small businesses, don’t hesitate to contact us.

How to Save on IT Support for Small Businesses

how to save on it support for small businesses

it support

Technology is a must for all businesses, both big and small. However, many small businesses don’t have the funds to spend a fortune to fulfill these technology needs.

If you’re the owner of a small business, here are a few tips that will help you cut costs for IT support.

Managed IT Support

One way small businesses can cut costs is going the route of managed IT support. Many startup owners mistakenly believe that IT support must come in the form of an IT department. While it’s nice to have IT experts on site at all times, keep in mind that you must pay these employees a salary.

Managed IT support saves small businesses money by charging a comparatively inexpensive monthly cost. With managed IT support, small businesses receive high quality services at a low price.

Choose a Scalable Service

Another way you can save on IT support for small businesses is choosing a scalable service. Scalability means you can increase or decrease the level of services for which you pay. The bandwidth of the average small business fluctuates significantly from month to month.

In the months when you have a low bandwidth, scalability will allow you to pay for what you use, nothing more and nothing less. If the bandwidth needs of your small business rise significantly the next month, you will be able to scale up the services accordingly without any hassle.

For more information about how you can save on IT support for your small business, don’t hesitate to contact us.