Online Backup Articles

Every day, healthcare organizations are faced with making important decisions regarding the storage of their data. Historically, healthcare information has been stored and shared on paper or other media, such as microfilm. Today, given the evolution of information technology, data is being stored and shared electronically. This transition to electronic storage results from the reality that information technology can reduce costs while improving quality. The transition from paper to electronic storage of healthcare information is guaranteed to continue in the future. Yet, as the healthcare industry becomes more electronic, the information becomes more vulnerable to loss.

The traditional threats to stored paper data are theft, fire, and water damage. But today, electronic data is at risk from new threats including hard drive crashes, viruses, hackers, power surges, and negligence as well as from the traditional threats.

Today, electronic data is at risk from new threats including hard drive crashes, viruses, hackers, power surges and negligence.

Organizations need to evaluate their current procedures for backing up data using the following criteria:
Security – is backed-up data stored in an environment that is safe from theft, smoke, fire, heat, and other natural disasters? Are there multiple copies of backed-up data stored in an encrypted format, or can anyone read it?
Consistency – are backups performed at least once per day? Have there been instances where backup procedures have been overlooked or forgotten?
Ease of data recovery – in the event of data loss, how easy would it be to recover data from the backups? How long would the downtime be? Would a data recovery specialist need to be hired?
Next, organizations should determine what improvements are necessary and how to implement them. Research into new technologies in data loss prevention should be conducted to determine capabilities, cost effectiveness, and compatibility with the organization’s needs.
Finally, the organization should develop and follow a written data loss prevention plan that outlines required procedures, necessary equipment, responsible personnel, and an implementation schedule. HIPPA Security standards make a data backup plan a compliance requirement. The effort and time that goes into prevention today can save significant costs in the long run, and ensure that possible data disasters are prevented.

For more information on protecting your data, please call or email Jim Dalton at DataHEALTH (1-888-656-DATA or info@datahealthusa.com).