Whether you’re a solo practitioner or practice in a single or multi-specialty medical group, you as a physician in today’s society are faced with many perplexing business pressures and problems. Fundamental changes and challenges in the healthcare marketplace have resulted from
- declining reimbursement
- soaring malpractice rates
- new federal compliance regulations
- litigious employees
- increased competition from other physicians
- vertical integration
- practice consolidation
- medical insurance fraud
- oversupply of physicians in some urban markets
With ever decreasing practice profit margins, physicians cannot afford to ignore the issues and problems raised by these internal and external market forces.
Medical groups need to focus on safeguarding and protecting the privacy of their patients.
Although there have been several well publicized security breaches, most often these have been of carelessness (lost or stolen laptops, backup drives, etc.).
For example, a member in congress had a personal breach on her medical records. A thumb drive was used by medical staff to copy patient information from a hospital computer they were working on. The confidential medical information was breached when the thumb drive, full of information, was accessed by the home office home computer. Both the home office computer and the thumb drive was not protected.
There have been some noted breaches when employees have snooped on records of VIP patients or a family/friend. When a medical practice investigates and verifies misconduct of an employee, the medical group risks a potential law suit and internal discipline usually is the course of action. Internal discipline also protects the medical group’s reputation and possible fines from the government.
How about if your competitor got hold of this type of information and it was proven the medical group kept the internal discipline a secret from the ‘right patient?’ You can see how the medical group could potentially end up with multiple suits, and also charged criminally.
Other intelligence of interest might be of a more competitive nature such as new procedures or services being offered. If a company spends its own time, money, and resources developing high-quality procedures, devices, or services, this intellectual property needs to be protected from the watchful eyes of your competition.
Who is to accuse medical groups on ‘spying on one another’ when their main concern should be conducting their own business?
Many different outside interests may seek needed information to protect their investment and client concerns. Medical groups may be susceptible in many ways for possible internal fraud such as deviant business practices by a greedy partner, acquisition by another medical group, over zealous governmental agency subcontractors, agencies overseeing medical and pharmaceutical businesses, their own insurance company.
Litigation involvement with malpractice and staph infection that did not get the immediate medical attention until a patient or two was lost due the negligence. What goes on behind closed doors within the private rest quarters of hospital staff, concerning questionable social activity interaction with fellow staff while supposedly on duty? Many would like to know about this including the media with the added fact of the media would consider it ‘news worthy’ for the ‘public to know’ it all. It’s already happening in other countries and it will happen here.
Medical groups are being looked at as a ‘vulnerable sitting duck’ through the eyes of an ‘information hunter.’ Did anyone ever think of an internal ‘disgruntled employee’ or so called ‘whistle blower?’ Could the compromise activity be already in progress?
Our suggestion is that you need to call us and make sure it isn’t happening right now. Do we know something you don’t know and are making a suggestion on you being safe? Our intelligence tells us that we both know what is going on and it’s just a matter of time before someone gets in ‘deep trouble.’
We conduct routine investigations with military/government grade high tech equipment. Our TSCM BugSweeps detect what your ‘IT department cannot detect,’ involved with a Sweep Survey of your premises. For your own sake, call us while it still may be a routine Sweep. Or call us when you already think you’re being compromised, and in hopes you want that person caught. You may be very surprised ‘who is watching you.’
Either way, call M.Guadagno Associates to do what we do best, ‘protecting your business.’
