With Covid-19 requiring more and more hospice clinicians and staff to work from home, data security is in the spotlight. High standards are already applied to the healthcare industry to ensure private health information of patients is protected. It’s critical now more than ever to ensure data is protected. 

We have compiled 6 tips for hospice administrators to implement to help keep their staff and patients safe.

1. Keep software up-to-date: Installing software updates for your operating system, browsers, and key software products is crucial. These updates often contain security against emerging cyber threats. Most operating systems have default settings that enable automatic updates and well-known browsers (such as Chrome or Firefox) will run updates in the background. Software and EMRs will also often be updated automatically without much interruption to the user. 
2. Avoid phishing scams: Phishing scams have become commonplace over the past several years. Phishing scams can take place over text, phone calls, social media, but the most common place they take place is email. Hospice administrators and staff should be suspicious of any communication that asks for personal information, logins, passwords, bank account, or credit card information. It’s crucial to verify the identity of any source asking for this type of information. See the most common phishing attempts here – https://www.phishing.org/phishing-examples
3. Be careful what you click: Members of your staff should be very careful about what they click both on the internet and in their email, texts, and on social media. Links can contain malware that can easily corrupt a computer. When possible, go to links directly rather than clicking to them from emails. Programs such as Click-to-Play and NoScript can also help prevent and Java, Flash, or scripts that have malicious code from being downloaded. 
4. Password management: Maintaining strong passwords that are unique to each account you manage is important to keep accounts secure. It may seem overwhelming to keep track of so many passwords. Using a password manager such as Norton Password Manager or LastPass can help keep passwords stored securely, create strong passwords, and make it easier to log in and out of multiple programs.
5. Never leave devices unattended: The physical security of devices is just as important as protection from online threats. Make sure that devices are always in your possession, are protected by a pin, and screens are automatically shut down and locked when not in use. 
6. Back up your data (or ensure EMR is doing it for you): If your organization does have a security incident, the only guarantee that you can recover your data is if you have a backup.

Data security can feel overwhelming, but by implementing these procedures you can decrease the risk of being the victim of cybercriminals. mumms is here to help! We’ve been leaders in the technology space for over 30 years. Our best practices make software updates easy and protect user security.

Plus, our back end keeps your data stored securely, encrypted, and ready to go should a disaster strike. See some of our data security measures in the infographic below: