A simple set of guidelines for avoiding NHS style data-loss blunders



Keeping your data safe and secure

Part two of two: Protecting your private practice against data security threats

As you may recall we recently published a post assessing the data loss risks to your system, including those posed by staff blunders. In this follow up post, Tom Hunt, managing director of PPM Software, the provider of the software suite ‘PPM’ - Private Practice Manager, presents some guidelines on how to manage and keep your practice data safe.

Most of the data losses the NHS has suffered were created internally by staff making simple mistakes. To avoid these mistakes in private practice, you should remove the risks of employees copying, corrupting or abusing your practice information. For instance, fully integrated private practice management software can save a great deal of administration time and effort and help keep data manageable and in an easily secured, central location.

Another way of ensuring staff don’t make silly mistakes, like keeping a file of passwords on their PC or taping them to the side of a monitor, is to find a user friendly package which allows easy retrieval of information. This will also massively improve time management, both for the medical secretary running the practice and the other staff.

However, when you purchase any kind of private practice management software, you should ensure that the provider can work smoothly with your IT consultant in the event of a problem. You must not get into the situation where the hardware supplier says it is the practice management software company’s responsibility and vice-versa. Practice managers should expect technical support to be delivered in easily understood terms. Furthermore, there’s no reason not to expect your software provider to be able to give you advice on data security.

In summary then, here are some simple steps that you should take to protect your data:

 Installing an industry recognized firewall will significantly reduce the possibility of an external attack on your PC or network

 Install anti-virus software and keep it updated

 Back up your data every working day and keep a copy off site in a safe and secure location. There are also plenty of affordable online and cloud backup systems available now, including ones provided by huge global corporations such as Amazon and Google.

 Create a password to get into your computer

 Create a password to get into your practice management application

 Keep all of your passwords safe and change them regularly.  It is advisable to use a password generator to reduce the possibility of someone guessing your password based on information about you that is shared publically. Most hackers have ways of working out your passwords using stolen information of information about you that is available online. Using a password generator makes it much more difficult for them to do this.

 Only allow key tried and trusted staff access to critical data – For example within ‘PPM’ – Private Practice Manager there are four levels of access to the data. Each level is password protected so you can allocate the appropriate one to each member of staff.

 Ensure the data is encrypted using the latest methods available

Having said all of the above, there is no absolute solution to this problem.  If professional hackers want to get at your data they will, irrespective of the steps you take. After all they’ve proved in recent times that they can hack everyone from Sony Playstation to NASA!

However, you can at least make it difficult for them. I believe that if you stick to these steps you can minimise the problems the NHS have encountered. If you have any questions, please call me on 01992 655940. Furthermore, readers of our blog can obtain a free trial of ‘PPM’ – Private Practice Manager by quoting ‘Blog Offer’ when you call. 

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