Practice Management

Lorne Lavine, DMD, founder and president of The Digital Dentist, has more than 30 years invested in the dental and dental technology fields. A graduate of USC, he earned his DMD from Boston University and completed his residency at the Eastman Dental Center in Rochester, N.Y. He received his specialty training at the University of Washington and went into private practice in Vermont until moving to California in 2002 to establish TDD, a company that focuses on the specialized technological and HIPAA needs of the dental community. He can be reached at drlavine@thedigitaldentists.com or 866-204-3398.

Articles

Creating an effective HIPAA compliance and cybersecurity plan can be the key to your practice’s success.

12 steps for creating a HIPAA compliance plan

Why you need to be more concerned about email security - and what you can do about it.  

9 ways to avoid cyber attacks

John Flucke, DDS, is in private practice in Lee’s Summit, Mo. He also serves as chief clinical editor and technology editor for 

® and keeps an active blog filled with thoughts and tidbits on the world of technology at blog.denticle.com.

How to use apps to improve efficiency and security in the dental practice: Part 2

Dr. Roger P. Levin is the CEO of Levin Group, a leading dental management consulting firm. Founded in 1985, Levin Group has worked with over 30,000 dental practices. Dr. Levin is one of the most sought-after speakers in dentistry and is a leading authority on dental practice success and sustainable growth. Through extensive research and cutting-edge innovation, Dr. Levin is a recognized expert on propelling practices into the top 10 percent. He has authored 65 books and over 4,000 articles on dental practice management and marketing. He has been featured in the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, and Time magazine and is the creator of the Levin Group Tip of the Day, which has over 30,000 subscribers. To contact Dr. Levin, visit www.levingroup.com or email rlevin@levingroup.com. 

You've heard the terrifying stories of HIPAA-compliance failures and the havoc they can cause for a practice ... but how can you ensure it doesn't happen to you?

Which one of the following scenarios constitutes a HIPAA violation?A.   After work, two employees at happy hour discuss a difficult case, mentioning specific patient details. Their conversation happens to be overheard by the patient’s neighbor.

7 ways to avoid becoming a HIPAA horror story






What exactly is ransomware-and how big of a threat is it to your dental practice?With the recent news of what many consider to be the largest ransomware attack in the history of the planet, I think it’s important to understand more about this issue and how to deal with it.These are the questions I get every day and my response to them:

The terrifying threat ransomware poses to your dental practice

Dr. Lou Shuman is the CEO of Cellerant Consulting Group, dentistry’s leading corporate incubator and accelerator; a venturer-in-residence at Harvard’s i-Lab; the chairman of the technology advisory board at WEO Media; a long-time contributor to Dental Products Report; and the founder and creator of the Cellerant Best of Class Technology Awards.

Robert McDermott is a recognized expert in HIPAA-compliant communications and online data security. He is a frequent speaker at national and regional dental conferences. Mr. McDermott is also president and CEO of iCoreConnect, provider of the iCoreExchange HIPAA-compliant email solution and iCoreDental, a customizable cloud-based secure EHR system. Prior to iCoreConnect, Mr. McDermott started, managed and operated six technology-oriented companies, three of which were ultimately acquired by major corporations.

This month, in part two of a two-part series, Dr. Shuman continues his conversation with Robert McDermott, president and CEO of iCoreConnect, on the topic of HIPAA compliance and electronic protected health information (ePHI). This column provides greater depth on the required safeguards for HIPAA-compliant management of ePHI, as well as the relative security of cloud-based systems for the dental office.

How to ensure your email is HIPAA compliant

Encryption may not be required by HIPAA rules, but just because you don’t have to, doesn’t mean you shouldn’t.

How to protect your practice with encryption

What's a BAA, and why is it so important for your dental practice? Dr. Lorne Lavine explores why this document could be crucial to HIPAA compliance.

Why a BAA is critical for dental practices

Mike Uretz is a nationally-recognized Dental software and Electronic Health Records (EHR) expert. Mike has helped hundreds of individual practices and multi-clinic groups properly evaluate and select software vendors and solutions, structure and negotiate pricing and contracts, provide implementation oversight and vendor management. Mike was a member of the Certification Commission for Health Information Technology EHR vendor certification workgroup, and has been a member of various federal and state working committees for EHR business practices and policy. Having been involved with the EHR Incentive program from day one, Mike has helped a number of states, to evaluate and select EHR vendors, structure contracts and agreements, and manage vendor issues. As co-chairman of the Best practices advisory committee for EHR Contracts, Mike has been instrumental in developing standards for structuring vendor contracts and pricing for use by state programs nationwide He is the founder and editorial director of DentalSoftwareAdvisor.com, a trusted and objective online resource on all matters related to dental software. He is also the point person for Advanstar’s coverage of dental EHRs and their evolving role in the dental industry and can be reached by e-mail at mikeu@dentalsoftwareadvisor.com.

 A recent proposal for certification requirements for Stage 3 Meaningful Use is meant to address the complexity of the program.

Stage 3 EHR incentive meaningful use proposal will affect dentists

 As many of you are aware, patient privacy and data security has taken center stage over the past two decades. It started with HIPAA in 1996, then the HITECH Act in 2009 and the “final” HIPAA law, the Omnibus Rules, that were enacted in March 2013 with a September 2013 deadline. For many practices, the rules and regulations are a paradigm shift in how you need to practice.

Patient Privacy & Security