When running any small business, it is essential that a budget for IT support be set aside for management and data security needs. The market for IT solutions is broad, and in any kind of business, specialization is a “must have”.
A tech is a tech?
Nothing can be further from the truth. Yes, a good tech can get your system up and running, fast, and secure. But medical and dental IT calls for much more than a good tech – it requires a company which employs a dedicated HIPAA security officer in conjunction with a competent team, full of technicians who are familiar with Practice Management Software, HIPAA regulations, data security, EMR, and medical/dental office workflow.
You get what you pay for.
Many small business IT companies offer low cost solutions to the server-workstation environment that any network needs to heighten security. What many of these technicians do not know, unless they have studied the HIPAA and HITECH laws, is the specific policies for a network domain setup – password complexity and management requirements, 24x7x365 logging of employee and network activity, strong encryption on all documents containing patient data, risk assessments, and a disaster recovery plan in case of emergency.
What else can a Dental IT company offer?
True specialists in dental IT have not only the know-how to work on different platforms hosting different dental software, such as Dentrix, Datacon, Eaglesoft, Open Dental, etc., but they also have direct connections to technicians at these companies so that they can streamline support. For example, one valuable offering of a dental IT company is third-party liaison management – the dental IT company has a connection within the practice management company, as well as years of direct experience with multiple versions of dental packages. The result is streamlined support with less hold or wait times for resolution.
Contracted dental IT support:
Having a service contract with a dental IT company is extremely valuable. Managed services, attained through contracted services, allow for 24×7 monitoring of essential devices as well as encrypted remote support portals that comply with HIPAA. These features gives dental IT specialists the tools needed in order to fix a problem sometimes before it is even noticed by the practice. Imagine: your IT company fixes a problem before you can even pick up the phone, or perhaps even notice something is wrong on the network.
HIPAA, HIPAA, HIPAA…
Dentists and medical practitioners alike have had HIPAA breathing down their necks, especially since the introduction of the omnibus rule in September, 2013. Obtaining a dental IT specific company is paramount to compliance with this law. Such a company has a Business Associate Agreement and maintains written responsibility of your patients’ data. Additionally, when entering a remote support contract with an IT company, it is essential that the portal itself be HIPAA compliant and use strong encryption. Additionally, the IT company must have data-usage policies in place, which is something that a medical or dental IT service will have in place.
A medical or dental IT company must adhere to the same strict data management policies that the Covered Entity must follow.
Consider dmi Networking, Inc. for Dental IT
dmi Networking, Inc. has 4+ full-time techs to serve you during business hours, as well as a HIPAA specialist, dental imaging specialists, dental office design specialists, and more. See our dental technician page to read about our team, and see our home page to learn about all of our dental IT offerings.