It is inevitable to have to upgrade any kind of software sooner or later. This is now true for Windows XP, as Microsoft has announced a discontinuation of support for the operating system in 2014. Microsoft recommends upgrading to the newer Windows 7 OS, which is something worth considering as early as now.

Part of using any sort of software is the inevitable need to upgrade. Most if not all software needs to either be replaced and upgraded as the demands of the market entail more efficient processing of the various data and information a business handles.

Such is the case with Windows XP. While many continue to use this proven straightforward operating system, Microsoft has decided to stop support by the year 2014. Microsoft further recommends upgrading to its latest OS, Windows 7, in order for users to continue to receive OS support.

While there are some lines of business applications that have not been upgraded to work with Windows 7, most have — and there are alternative approaches. Also, your business needs the security and protection that only a current, up-to-date operating system can provide.

We understand that changing your OS will entail some expense, including new licenses, hardware, and some training. Fortunately, these things are designed to help you operate more efficiently and increase your productivity in the long run. But such change will take time, and if you are interested in starting to plan for an upgrade now, we’ll be happy to sit down with you and develop an upgrade process that meets your specific needs.

Many SMBs are unaware that hackers are finding online banking transactions to be profitable and easy targets for cyber-attacks because of several weaknesses in the security systems not only of both organizations, but also in the authentication protocols between them.

In a recent attack, cyber-thieves managed to get away with $63,000 after they exploited vulnerabilities in the online payroll system of a small business with its bank.

First, the crooks managed to infiltrate the company’s system through a piece of malware called the Zeus Trojan. This gave them access to the company’s data, including the password and username used in transacting with the company’s bank. The thieves then created several new ghost employees and created payroll accounts for them, which they sent to the bank and authenticated using the company controller’s username and password. And to cover their tracks, the hackers erased the confirmation emails regarding the transaction.

This incident highlights the need for better security systems in both the business and their bank – as security experts cite online banking transactions as one of the favorite targets of cyber-criminals. Cyber-attacks such as this one exploit weaknesses in many existing systems that rely on very simple and automated authentication procedures to confirm transactions.

A direct threat to your business finances is not something to be taken lightly. You not only need to review your current online banking system, but also the current security protocols you have installed, since hackers and cyber-criminals are constantly updating Trojans and other malware to adapt to changing IT protection systems.

We encourage you to have us take a look at the systems you have in place to determine if you are at risk for attacks like these. Please do not hesitate to contact us and we will be happy to draw up custom security solutions that address your specific needs.

References:
Sold a Lemon in Internet Banking
Cybercrooks Drive Away With $63,000 from Car Dealership

Internet security is an issue not to be taken lightly. As an increasing number of businesses use the web for more efficient operations, there is also more risk of being affected by malware and viruses. But thanks to initiatives such as WebBlaze and BitBlaze from Professor Dawn Song, developers are better equipped to make more effective IT security systems.

If you think hackers are the only ones doing their research to release newer and scarier viruses and malware on the web, think again. It is comforting to know that there are also very capable people doing what they can to make the internet a safer place – like Professor Dawn Song, associate professor at the University of California at Berkeley and MacArthur Foundation fellow.

In a nutshell, Professor Song has been looking at different ways to make the internet experience more secure. Her two initiatives – WebBlaze and BitBlaze – are aimed toward developers who want to create better and much more secure programs and applications.

WebBlaze is a compilation of different strategies from Song and other like minds who tackle different problems and solutions in all sorts of platforms, and BitBlaze is an analysis tool for malicious software. While we won’t go into too much detail (it involves very complicated math), the gist is that Song and her colleagues are drawing up some very solid solutions to constantly evolving security issues on the web.

It’s exciting to see developments like these in the security industry. As threats continue to evolve, so does the means through which they are fought. The more we use the internet and the more the online experience becomes integral to the day-to-day operations of businesses big and small, the more important securing your data and information becomes. And because of efforts such as Professor Song’s, we can expect security programs to be much more effective and efficient as time passes.

Know more about BitBlaze and WebBlaze

Learn more about Dawn Song here

If you are looking to assess and beef up your security systems, we’d be happy to sit down with you and take a look at improvements that can make your business and your data much more secure.

EMRs provide measurable benefits for providers of all sizes, including small practices, according to a recent survey. Plus, the return on investment is high: According to researcher, it costs just $7,857 and takes just 130 hours to implement an EMR at a five-member practice.

In contrast to prior suggestions that electronic medical records (EMRs) may not benefit small health care providers, a new survey says there are measurable benefits for providers of all sizes.

To conduct the survey, current and past Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) staff members looked 154 peer-reviewed articles written from 2007 to 2010.

In their paper “The Benefits of Health Information Technology: A Review of the Recent Literature Shows Predominantly Positive Results,” they report that 92 percent reached the conclusion that the use of health IT has an overall positive effect.

The survey also found evidence of emerging measurable benefits for small health care practices in addition to the large ones.

That may be because the return on investment is high. Case in point: Dr. Neil Fleming, vice president for health care research at Baylor Health Center System, says EHR implementation cost $7,857 per physician and takes 130 hours at a five-member practice.

The reason for the discrepancy with prior studies, says David Blumenthal, the national coordinator for health care IT, is that prior studies focused on the early years of EHR development when functionality was not as mature.

“Two salient aspects of this more recent synthesis are that it brings the literature up to date and extends it beyond the few large systems that were the source of most information on the record for health information technology, and looks at it in a much more representative set of provider settings,” Blumenthal said.

Related articles: New survey shows EHRs benefit even small providers

Republican bill that imperils funding for meaningful use incentives has a long way to go before it becomes law—if it ever does.

President Obama may have celebrated an emerging health care IT system in his State of the Union address, but at the same time, Republican lawmakers were producing a bill that imperils funding for meaningful use incentives. Should you be concerned?

The Spending Reduction Act of 2011 (H.R. 408), which Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio introduced on January 24, seeks to reduce federal spending by $2.5 trillion over the coming decade. To do so, it plans to eliminate many federal programs—specifically, subtitles B and C of title II and titles III through VII of division B of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.

Since the federal EMR incentive program set up under the ARRA/HITECH Act of 2009 falls under division B of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, it seems that the new bill would cut disbursements to health care providers for EMR adoption.

Providers who want to purchase an EMR are wondering if they really want to start down that path, which is understandable, but there’s no reason to panic. The bill’s passage is not assured. Republicans control the House, but the Democrats control the Senate—and it seems almost assured that any bill like this one would surely be vetoed by President Obama, who’s been a strong supporter of EMR implementation.

Meanwhile, EMR implementation is increasing: Fourteen thousand providers had registered for meaningful use incentives as of early February, up from the 13,000 announced in January, according to the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC).

Our take: Don’t let the political noise prevent you from implementing an EMR. “We’re trying to tell people that this process is going on,” says Dave Roberts, vice president of government relations for HIMSS. “This is only one body [of Congress]. Don’t let this be a concern.”

Doctors can track patient location from admission to discharge, access and share daily schedules and calendars, order labs, refill prescriptions, and more.

An April 2010 New York Times article, Doctors and Patients, Lost in Paperwork, says that an average physician spends as much time doing paperwork as he or she does with the patient.

“Paperwork, or documentation, takes up as much as a third of a physician’s workday; and for many practicing doctors, these administrative tasks have become increasingly intolerable, a source of deteriorating professional morale,” the article states.

The solution: a paperless practice, which isn’t a new phenomenon in healthcare. And there may be no better time to go paperless, given the current government push toward electronic medical records (EMRs). EMRs can help you document patient records electronically, and also makes communications much more efficient by allowing you to share patient records and send prescriptions with a single click.

The key is to select an EMR that helps, not hampers, productivity. A solution that forces you to spend the same amount of time as you would with a paper-based record is hardly an effective solution.

Consider gloEMR, one of the very first EMRs to be Stimulus certified through the Certification Commission for Health Information Technology (CCHIT).Through the dashboard that is the heart of gloEMR, doctors can track patient location from admission to discharge, access and share daily schedules and calendars, order labs, refill prescriptions, and more.

gloEMR is also unique in that it leverages several key Microsoft products, including Microsoft Office Word for text editing. Microsoft technology makes it easy to create practice-specific templates for routine encounters without expensive programming or training—which means your EMR improves productivity.

Contact us for more information.

One thing is clear, quality is still more important than quantity. Especially with the current economic downturn, people are downsize everything – including online social circles.

November 17, 2010 was declared by Jimmy Kimmel during his television show as “National Unfriend Day”, the opportunity for all Facebook users to declutter their Facebook pages by “unfriending” people in their friends’ lists. He claims that Facebook has been “cheapening” the idea of friendship. To many the idea was hilarious, but others are seriously considering the wisdom of unfriending.

Is Kimmel on to something here? Can unfriending benefit your online business?

Research shows that as social media gets bigger, we’re getting smaller. Brian Wong, a network marketer says it simply: “With the growth of social networking, I am finding it increasingly difficult to separate business connections and personal connections.” He says that having almost 1,000 friends on Facebook has made it difficult for him to see the feeds and updates of his “real” friends and important business partners.

Lately there is a growing trend of de-scaling on the internet. People have started “pruning” their social lives online. For example, the popular Farmville app lost 30 million players this year, and people are beginning to realize that conversations and comments are more important than a huge number of blog hits.

So how can de-scaling and unfriending help your business? The drive to be more intimate can benefit your business by allowing you to form a tighter circle of customers, more successfully establishing you as a preferred channel for consumption.

Luckily, there are tools that can help you descale your social networks:

1. Path – Offers small-scale communities where people feel more comfortable sharing personal information. It controls who can view your information and does not include features that make your content viral.
2. Letter.ly – A subscription-based newsletter for bloggers who feel that public posts decrease the quality of conversations. This newsletter opens discussion only to people who pay, or who are privately invited to read a blog post.
3. GroupMe – A texting app which limits your group text participants to only 14, to ensure that meaningful dialogues take place.

What about the flip side of unfriending and descaling? While you’re considering who to eliminate from your social circles, your contacts are likely doing the same. Here are some tips to help you make their cuts:

1.       Be selective in your communications.
Of course, your product is important – to you. But not every little detail is as important to your audience. Be sure to focus on key features and benefits from your audience’s perspective.

2.       Stay on topic.
Always give relevant communications to your customers, and never rant or badmouth competitors. This is a sure way to lose customers.

3.       Provide value.
In addition to talking about your product or service, find ways to provide value to your circle of friends. Understand topics and pain points important to them, and provide valuable information and advice to help them succeed. You’ll soon come to be considered as a valuable resource to your contacts – one that they want to keep in their online social groups.

One thing is clear: quality is still more important than quantity, especially in the current economic downturn when people are downsizing everything. Start “pruning” your social network – and take steps to avoid being pruned – and you’ll reap the benefits of having a tight circle of loyal friends and customers.

These days, more and more people are on the go, and many of them bring their work with them. While connecting to public and open-access Wi-Fi hotspots is indeed convenient, using open networks also pose risks that endanger your security.

While connecting to public and open-access Wi-Fi hotspots is indeed convenient, using open networks also poses risks that endanger your security. The open nature that allows anyone to use the connection also enables unscrupulous people to gain access to your private information. The whole act of stealing information from people who are using public Wi-Fi networks is called ‘sidejacking’.

There are applications such as Firesheep, for example, that provide an easy-to-use platform that others can exploit to spy and harvest personal, sensitive information from you. And since Firesheep is a Mozilla Firefox plug in, virtually anyone can download and use it to sidejack people on the same network.

You can’t be too cautious with your personal and business data these days, so you always need to have the proper laptop configuration and security infrastructure to protect your system, especially when you frequently avail of open and public networks. To know more about this, please feel free to give us a call and we’ll be happy to draw up some security options that meet your specific needs.

gloEHR offers five key features of tomorrow’s EMR:  interoperability, scalability, easy maintenance, a user-friendly interface, and the potential for mobile computing.

As more and more EMRs come onto the market, it’s becoming more difficult to choose one that will remain usable well into the future. According to one IT consulting firm, health care providers should look for five key components.

Three factors are essential in an EMR, and are quickly becoming the standard:

• Interoperability. gloEMR is the only EMR with Microsoft Office built right in—which makes sharing data simple.
• Scalability. Microsoft technology in gloEMR makes it easy to create practice-specific templates for routine encounters without expensive programming.
• Easy maintenance. The familiarity of Microsoft technology in gloEMR reduces implementation time and ongoing maintenance.

Two additional factors will distinguish tomorrow’s EMR from the rest:

• User-friendly design and interface. gloEMR offers user-friendly dashboard—so one click is all it takes to find, view, and work with the most critical patient information.
• The potential for mobile computing. gloStream is committed to meeting the ongoing needs of its customers—now and in the future.

Does your EMR have those features? gloEMR does. And now getting goEMR is easier. gloStream recently announced the “glo For It!” EMR replacement program. Under the program, any practice that upgrades to gloEMR from a competitive EMR will receive a gloPM practice management license, a $7,500 value, for free.

gloPM, the latest addition to the gloStream suite of products, is a powerful and easy to learn and use practice management system. It simplifies scheduling, billing, and report creation—all with Microsoft technology.

Related articles: Five key features of tomorrow’s EHR

The rate of electronic health record (EHR) adoption among U.S. physicians is set to double from 2009 to 2012. Don’t get left behind – choose an IT company that can help you do it right.

According to new analysis from 2010Oct02 firm Frost & Sullivan, the U.S. ambulatory EHR market, which was valued at $1.3 billion in 2009, will reach $2.6 billion in 2012. The reason, says the reseacrh firm, is not just the increased implementation of EHRs, but all of the services that go with them.

Nancy Fabozzi, an analyst with Frost & Sullivan, says HITECH will increase the prevalance of players that help health care providers successfully adopt information EHRs—players such as IT firms. Fabozzi notes that strategic partnering with such players is important for survival in the EHR market—especially when those players are “innovative, provider-focused, and patient-centric technology companies” that understand how to manage the industry’s unique combination of risks and rewards.

Don’t get left behind in EHR implementation; let gloStream—which offers health care providers a certified, voice-enabled, Microsoft Office-embedded EHR—be your partner in EHR implementation. Contact us for details about gloEMR.

Related articles:

EHR market projected to double by 2012