Is being responsible for electronic medical records a daily source of trepidation for you or your business? While the sentiment is understandable, it often results from a lack of understanding about what HIPAA compliance actually means. As industry-wide penalties continue to rise every year, it’s essential to take a closer look at who is being fined, and why.

Having to “check the files” without the aid of computers can be quite cumbersome. In the healthcare industry in particular, patient files are practically libraries unto themselves with medical history, allergies, vaccine status, lab test results, personal statistics, billing info, etc.

In hi-tech environments like IT, aeronautics, and military weaponry, the term “paradigm shift” is a bit overused, often applied to changes that don’t really meet the true definition. But in healthcare it relates nicely as several developments marking fundamental, wholesale departures from the way things are done are poised to upend the current state of affairs.

Managing and monitoring medical data is incredibly complex, especially for the layman who won’t be able to understand the terminology. With the iOS 10 update rapidly approaching, both consumers and healthcare industries will have something to be excited about - the Apple HealthKit.

News broke recently that the Washington Redskins reported a laptop stolen that contained thousands of medical records for NFL players. The trainer who was responsible for the laptop claims that it did not contain any HIPAA protected data, but the impact remains largely the same.

“We are living in a digital world, and healthcare practices need a URL”. If Madonna could change the lyrics of her 1984 classic to speak to the healthcare industry, she may have sang something like this. A URL is just one facet of the digital strategy that hospitals and private practices alike will need to adapt if they wish to remain competitive in today’s world.

A recent initiative to give healthcare patients access to the notes their doctor or clinician writes about their visit is continuing its meteoric rise across the country. OpenNotes began a few years ago by researching the benefits of allowing patients to have access to their doctor’s notes.

Ransomware is becoming a growing problem for the healthcare industry. And with around a dozen attacks on hospitals being reported since the beginning of the year, you may be wondering just how severe the problem is. Should you be alarmed? How can you protect your practice? Here’s an inside look at how the ransomware epidemic is affecting the US and Canadian healthcare systems.

Make no mistake, healthcare costs are rising. For business owners who are generous enough to offer their employees insurance, this is undoubtedly a cause for concern. And you may wonder, is there any way to protect your employees and not go bankrupt in the process? Wearable technologies may be the answer.

More patients are turning to a self-service approach when it comes to healthcare. Now this doesn’t mean they’ve taken to operating on themselves, but they are checking into hospitals without the help of medical administrators. Similar to portal technology, self-service kiosks can help streamline administrative tasks like hospital registration and payment.