This has already been a wild year when it comes to data breaches, beginning with the hack of insurance giant Anthem back in February that compromised the personal data of 80 million clients. A month later, 11 million customers had their medical and financial details compromised in a cyberattack on Premera Blue Cross. Since then, things have only gotten worse.

Originally discussed in President Obama’s State of the Union speech back in January, the White House is now looking for the help of those in the medical industry to ensure the President’s Precision Medicine Initiative (PMI) is a success. In the official blog of the Executive Branch, Deputy Chief Technology Officer for Data Policy and Chief Data Scientist in the Office of Science and Technology Policy DJ Patil and PMI Project Manager Stephanie Devaney asked for the feedback of both the public and private sectors.

The world is more mobile than ever before and it now appears a greater number of physicians are doing the same in throughout the workday According to a new survey conducted by Black Book Market Research, 52 of ambulatory practice physicians currently access patient records or reference data from a mobile device. But the use of mobile devices doesn't stop there for ambulatory physicians.

We’ve had a lot of discussions on this blog about how to keep your practice’s computers safe and secure. While performing regular cybersecurity tasks (such as keeping your antivirus software up-to-date) is undoubtedly important, there are also some other routine PC maintenance tasks that you should be performing in order to keep your practice’s computer running smoothly and efficiently.

Welcome to the second half of our brief blog series on the dangers of fake apps and rogue security software. In Part 1, we took a look at fake apps. Among those discussed was the infamous Virus Shield, a fake mobile antivirus app that did not actually do anything. However, those who downloaded the fake app may want to consider themselves lucky that it didn’t. Had it been a rogue security software loaded with a virus (or worse), as we will show in this second installment, their situations could have been far more troublesome. In fact, a 2010 study by Google found that 15% of all malware is downloaded due to rogue or fake antivirus software.

Forgeries, fakes, and counterfeit products have been around for thousands of years. About 2,000 years ago, Roman sculptors were copying preexisting sculptures from the ancient Greeks. Of course, back then, no one really cared that the statues weren’t authentic. They just liked how the sculptures looked and copies were more affordable than the rarer originals. In 1496 Michelangelo, the legendary Renaissance artist (just in case you thought I meant the ninja turtle) was hired by an unscrupulous art dealer to create a fake reproduction of what was supposed to be an “ancient” Cupid statue. The dealer who then sold the work was later caught for selling the fake and was forced to refund the buyer’s money. Luckily for Michelangelo, he was allowed to keep his fee.

With each passing day, technology is becoming a more integral part of the way we conduct our lives, and medical practices are no exception to this rule. Whether it's the emergence of more intricate and user-friendly EHR systems, practice management software, data reports from wearable technology or new patient portal solutions, our practices are more technologically involved than they've ever been before. While all of this technology is aimed at simplifying life, it can actually complicate things a great deal if managed improperly. Take a minute and check out these tips for managing technology in your practice to keep things running smoothly, seamlessly and effectively.

Security breaches are likely to be at the forefront of your concerns when it comes to managing your practice. Still, you may not be doing everything in your power to avoid them. Take a look at these helpful tips for managing your practice's security.