Is your Healthcare Practice taking advantage of cloud storage and document back-up with Google Drive? Are you getting the most out of your experience? Do you have questions about security, particularly regarding sensitive medical records? Even though the cloud is touted as the safest place to secure documents, do you still worry about a modern corporate death through document loss? You are not alone in asking these questions. Being dependent on any one thing for the survival of your Healthcare Practice is a scary thing. Knowing the answers to these questions should put your mind at ease. Here are 4 Key Benefits of Google Drive for Healthcare Practices.
4 Key Benefits of Google Drive for Healthcare Practices
1. Get The Most By Operating Efficiently:
Even small practices will be inundated with saved files. Businesses in the healthcare sector are virtually inundated with documentation. Attempting to find a single file on your Google Drive can be a challenge. That one elusive file blends in with all the rest. After scanning and scrolling for a few minutes you begin to wonder if you missed it and need to start all over again. Stop wasting time! If you can’t remember the exact name for a file, searching your Google Drive like a pro is still possible.
Keep these tips in mind:
- Search query results include files with content that match the search description.
- Search query results will also include files containing images, video and audio content that match the search description.
- An OCR task will automatically be performed to search for text within images that match search description.
If a search by description still generates too many results, narrow and refine further with these search options:
- By modified date using before and after time window parameter.
- Search by file owner.
- Search by file type (PDF, image, folder, etc.)
- Search by location (recycle bin, starred files, music library, etc.)
Final search tip: Rather than begin a search with the most general query, such as “bronchitis“, start with a highly refined search parameter. Details can then be omitted to expand generated results. For example, enter text in the search query window as if you were having a conversation with your Google Drive to create a highly specific search request:
Find PDF files about bronchitis shared with me and modified today.
2. How Safe Are Documents?
Confidential and sensitive corporate documents require the best security. Storage in the cloud means storing a back-up of these documents off-site in a virtual safe. This digital safe is only as secure as a company’s access control policies. To shore up your company’s defences around its most confidential documents, here are some security measures that will assure that your Google Drive storage is as breach-proof as possible:
- Create complex passwords with 2-factor authentication (2FA) and change regularly
- Encrypt sensitive stored data
- Authorized user permission required for access
- Update access controls whenever a user leaves the company
Australian Privacy Act 1988 Compliance: Medical records need the highest level of protection possible. According to the Australian Government it says
“Health information is regarded as one of the most sensitive types of personal information. For this reason, the Privacy Act 1988 (Privacy Act) provides extra protections around its handling. For example, an organisation generally needs an individual’s consent before they can collect their health information. In addition, all organisations that provide a health service and hold health information (other than in an employee record) are covered by the Privacy Act, whether or not they are a small business.”
More information about the Privacy Act 1988 (Privacy Act) can be found here.
3. Data Death:
Storage in the cloud is touted as the safest place for document back-up in the event of data failure. Is data death impossible in the cloud? Is the death of Google conceivable? Google Drive is definitely a more reliable and safer place to store data as compared to USBs and other common document back-up options. But data loss in Google Drive does occur.
Nearly 70% of data loss on Google Drive is attributed to user error. About 20% of data loss has an unknown cause, users reporting a problem yet not following up with Google to report final resolution.
Here’s what Google Drive users need to know:
- Accidental Deletion: File is accessible for 30 days in the trash.
- Shared Files: If original owner deletes file, your shared file is lost.
- Corrupted Files: Although it may appear that the file is stored on your Google Drive, a corrupted file will not open so it is as good as lost.
- Bad Actors: Hacked data accounts for about 10% of data loss on Google Drive. This can be the act of an outside hacker or a disgruntled employee.
4. Data Disruption:
Even if data has not been lost, access to data stored in your Google Drive may be disrupted. Account suspension is the most common reason users often find their data inaccessible. If Google suspects account violations, a user may find themselves locked out of their Google Drive. Wrongful suspensions account for 15% of issues related to data access. If not addressed in a timely manner, suspension can become permanent, resulting in complete data loss.
Cloud Conclusions:
Cloud storage solutions make security, back-up and file sharing more convenient and affordable for companies. Enjoying the tools and services of Google Drive, however, might also create a false sense of security. Just because a business finds digital document management becomes a piece of cake with Google Drive doesn’t mean they no longer need the expertise of IT professionals. The power of technology to transform your organisation or company to fulfil its potential is the special skill set of experienced IT professionals. Having your files on Google Drive alone does not provide 100% secure back-up of data. Businesses connected with the healthcare industry need to go the extra mile to secure their records. In other words, back-up your backed-up data!
Contact us to partner with an experienced IT support team with global capabilities and the data support services that will keep your business data secure.
Does your Healthcare Practice need a reliable IT Partner?
Speak to the experienced team at Stanfield IT on 1300 910 333