Nothing can be worse for your dental practice than being hit by a disaster. It can disrupt your clinic's daily operations and affect your revenue. Disasters come in many forms and can hit your business at any time. This is why you should come up with a disaster recovery plan that will allow your clinic to continue operating or recover quickly during a crisis.
Though most business owners would rather avoid it, being prepared when faced with worst-case scenarios will help your dental office recover faster with as little cost as possible. This article will present some worst-case scenarios you should know about, and how to tackle each one.
Inside threats
One threat most dental office owners often overlook is the threat coming from their own staff. A data breach report published by IBM and the Ponemon Institute states that in 2019 alone, a quarter of all reported data breaches were because of human error.
One good example is when one of your dental staff unknowingly clicks on a phishing email that will either automatically download malware or steal that user's login information. Other examples of insider threat are disgruntled employees and those looking to sell company information.
Here are some ways you can prevent and handle insider threats.
- Careful screening – There are some dental clinics who hire people without carefully checking references and performing background checks. This is true when the candidate has been recommended by a current staff member or a dental clinic is rushing to fill an open position.People in charge of the hiring process should conduct thorough background checks and talk to listed references and other people the candidate previously worked with.
- Comprehensive training – Once hired, it's your responsibility to train your new staff about your dental clinic's facility and online security policies. They should know which areas of your clinic they have access to and which ones are prohibited.
Cyberattacks
Businesses everywhere, especially those in healthcare, have seen a rise in cyberattacks since 2018. This is because healthcare organizations house a huge amount of private patient information which is worth a lot of money to cybercriminals looking to sell it on the dark web. From phishing emails to brute force attacks, hackers have a lot of ways to infiltrate your clinic's network and steal valuable data. So how do you protect your business from cyberattacks?
- Limit access to important data – This helps reduce the risk of human error, such as opening a phishing email or clicking on a compromised link.
- Update your cybersecurity software solutions – Regularly patch your cybersecurity software. Check for new updates to ensure all your apps and software are free from bugs.
- Use multifactor authentication (MFA) – Unlike passwords, MFA requires a user to provide additional credentials such as a fingerprint or facial scan. This makes it harder for cybercriminals to infiltrate your network system.
- Educate your staff – Train your staff to identify and eliminate various cyberthreats that can harm your business. Holding regular training sessions and mock tests will ensure your staff can respond properly to a cyberattack or data breach.
Natural disasters
Not all worst-case scenarios that will hit your company can be blamed on people. Natural disasters have been known to put many dental offices out of business. The reason behind this is they lack the resources to bounce back from a major catastrophe, and most small- to medium-sized businesses (SMBs) also do not have a proper disaster recovery plan in hand.
A disaster recovery plan can implement steps designed to protect and recover your dental clinic's data in the event of a disaster.
With the different worst-case scenarios that might hit and cripple your dental practice, it's good to err on the side of caution and take the proper measures. Here at Pact-One, we offer proactive IT support and preemptive IT solutions for all our clients to ensure their clinics are equipped to handle any form of disaster from insider threats to cyberattacks to natural disasters. Contact us today.
Dental IT. Remove the Burden. Embrace the Use.
Quality patient care – it's ultimately why you became a dental professional. But, some business operations can get in the way (such as pesky computer issues or lack of IT support). That’s where Pact-One Solutions can help! Our passion lies in supplying reliable, responsive dental IT support and security that practices can count on.
Whether you’re looking for dental IT services for your startup or searching for more responsive dental IT support – our team of dental IT specialists have you covered. With team members throughout the United States, we offer nationwide support to dental practices of all sizes. Our wide range of dental IT services ensure your data is secure, accessible, and protected.
Don't let technology challenges hinder your ability to deliver exceptional dental care. Contact us at info@pact-one.com or 866-722-8663 to join 350+ dental practices thriving with the support of a dedicated dental IT team.
