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Vendor Risk Management Strategy for Independent Practices

Posted on by Taylor Kennedy

INTRODUCTION

contractCrises can happen at any moment–take Chipotle for example. According to an analysis by a risk management company, if the restaurant chain had had a vendor risk management solution, the food may have never been contaminated.

It’s also important for independent medical practices to have a vendor risk management strategy in place. If a vendor were to make a mistake, it’s your practice that unfortunately takes much of the blame and your patients who suffer the consequences. Here are tips on how to create such a strategy. Continue reading “Vendor Risk Management Strategy for Independent Practices” →

Seven Pinterest Boards Your Hotel Should Have

Posted on by Jaimie Onasch

INTRODUCTION

PinterestAccording to Pinterest, more than 200 million people use the social media site every month, and they use it to plan everything from what they’re having for dinner tonight to where they’ll go on their next vacation.

The platform’s visual and shareable nature makes it ideal for brand promotion and exposure. In fact, Pinners are 47 percent more likely to be introduced to new brands than people on other social networks.

Is your hotel taking advantage of Pinterest? Remember, users can follow your hotel as a whole or they can choose to follow specific boards.

Following are seven Pinterest boards your hotel should create.

  1. Showcase your rooms. Show off a variety of rooms to appeal to different types of travelers. For instance, suites or connecting rooms might appeal more to families, while single-bed rooms (with some flowers and a bottle of champagne) may be more attractive to couples.
  2. Feature amenities. Start by determining what makes your hotel unique and highlighting those features. For instance, if your facility houses a pool or arcade, create a board dedicated to family-friendly fun. If your location has an onsite spa or yoga studio, emphasize the luxury experience your hotel provides.
  3. Flaunt your restaurant. According to Statista, food and drink are among the most popular categories on Pinterest. Establishments that offer onsite dining should create a separate board for this amenity. Signature recipes and seasonal selections are good places to start. Pin photos of these items or recipe graphics to encourage repins.
  4. Highlight event hosting. Entice meeting and event planners by pinning examples of the types of events your hotel is capable of hosting. Larger events such as weddings, corporate meetings and company parties, as well as smaller gatherings such as family reunions, should be displayed on your hotel’s event board. Make sure to get permission before pinning any event photos that feature guests.
  5. Display local attractions and activities. Travel is one of the top 10 categories on Pinterest with more than 3 billion travel-related ideas and an average of 2 million saves per day. Inspire people to visit your city and stay in your hotel by highlighting area attractions such as monuments, sports teams or museums, as well as seasonal activities such as festivals and ski hills.
  6. Provide a behind the scenes look. Intrigue potential guests with a sneak peek of what happens behind the scenes at your hotel. For instance, you could pin an image of your staff setting up for an event or a photo of chefs preparing dinner. A lot of hard work and dedication goes into your everyday operations, so be sure to share it.
  7. Encourage guests to share their experiences. Create a “guest experiences” group board to allow past guests and visitors to pin some of their favorite moments at your hotel, as well as testimonials and reviews. This can help stimulate engagement and boost interest in your hotel.

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How to Prevent Employee-Caused Data Breaches at Your Dental Practice

Posted on by Brian Lee

INTRODUCTION

dental officeSecurity breaches in the healthcare industry are on pace for more than one per day, according to a recent report. What’s telling is that 9.2 percent of the breaches occurred through accidental email/internet exposure and 8.7 percent due to employee errors, an IT security company discovered.

It’s one thing to be targeted by hackers, but dental practices wanting to prevent healthcare data breaches need to eliminate ones caused by staff.

Here’s how you can protect patient health information:

EDUCATE AND TRAIN DENTAL STAFF

Depending on the size of your practice, you may have just one person who handles all of your marketing, social media and PR. Let’s call this person your marketing director (and if you don’t have one, it may either be the owner or the receptionist).

You and your marketing director must focus internal communications efforts on situational training and education, respectively.

For your marketing director, regular communications–be it newsletters, Intranet blog posts, presentations, quizzes and/or handouts–are important to engage staff and build a mindset in which security is at the forefront. Your objective is to reduce or eliminate unintentional employee-caused data breaches.

For you (or your third-party IT consultant), cybersecurity company Redspin says to test staff with phishing emails and phone calls. Supplement the training with posters, wikis and other items the staff can reference quickly. For example, small stickers on laptops reminding staff only to use trusted wi-fi hotspots can go a long way.

With education and training, your dental practice hopefully can avoid breaches such as the email scam that affected the nursing home chain American Senior Communities in Indiana.

USE A PRIVILEGED ACCESS MANAGEMENT SYSTEM

Work with an IT company to install Privileged Access Management (PAM) software. It will determine who may access various systems and create a digital audit trail. PAMs often require multiple types of authentication when logging in. Thus, you need to make sure staff members achieve informed consent about these safeguard processes that can be time-consuming or annoying, according to the Commonwealth Fund.

PAMs also can help stop malicious employees or ex-employees who intentionally steal information or cause other harm to your systems. Give your dental patients peace of mind by telling them (e.g. through your website) that you’re doing everything in your power to protect their sensitive information.