The move to electronic health records has physicians trading in their paper charts for computers, but even with all the advantages technology brings, it also presents new hurdles.
Web-based practice management and EHR systems have a multitude of benefits for doctors, like increased flexibility, lower cost, greater efficiency, improved security and easier collaboration.
However, the numerous safeguards implemented by EHR providers to keep your practice up and running are null and void if your local Internet service provider fails you.
Losing Your Connection
Dr. Donald Waltrens’s West Palm Beach family practice discovered the importance of a backup Internet connection firsthand when it lost Internet connection for three days due to a problem with their service provider, Comcast.
While this is an extreme case and a rare incident, losing an Internet connection can really throw a wrench into a practice’s operations if they don’t have a contingency plan.
Dr. Waltren and his team struggled to provide efficient health care to his patients while he waited for Comcast to restore the connection.
We all know the importance of backing up computer files and patient records, but what about backing up your Internet connection?
Contingency Plan
“Situations like this highlight the importance of backups,” explains Michael Gold, CareCloud’s Director of Product Development. “In this case, it’s about the office having a backup Internet connection.”
“An inexpensive router with a 3G cellular backup connection is a small but critical investment to make; especially in the face of avoidable lost physician productivity due to a cable internet provider outage.”
This is one of the benefits of using tablet devices like the iPad, which has a built-in 3G network. Even if Wi-Fi connection is lost internally, the iPad can still get a 3G signal and connect to the Internet.
Like many new technologies, the benefits outweigh the potential complications, and practices can mitigate the risk of losing access to their data by installing a backup connection.
Web-based EHR systems can improve efficiency, cut costs and enhance patient care, but protect your practice by having a plan in place should you lose your internet connection.
As a friend in the IT business likes to say: “Always back up, then back up your backups.”
What would your practice do if it lost Internet? Share your plan.
