Every 39 seconds, a hacker perpetrates a cyberattack on the internet, affecting one in three Americans every year.1 Dentists should not be lulled into a false sense of security or an assumption they won’t be targeted. If tech giants and federal agencies were susceptible to the recent SolarWinds cyberattack,2 couldn’t your dental practice be next?
Perhaps you think your dental practice isn’t an attractive target. However, research has shown that small businesses, particularly those in the healthcare industry, are at significant risk.3 Many cybercriminals assume that small businesses lack the proper resources to adequately protect themselves. The sensitive electronic protected health information (ePHI) that dental practices have on file, including names, addresses, Social Security numbers, and banking data, make them even more appealing to hackers. Not only can a breach adversely affect patients, but the practice itself could face major fines for not being in compliance with HIPAA rules and regulations.4
This is why it is so critical for dental practices to take the necessary steps to ensure that they are protected from a possible cyberattack. The SolarWinds breach proved that no business or organization — even IT management companies — are immune from a cyberattack. In the SolarWinds case, network monitoring software was tainted with malicious code and distributed to the company’s customers. The attackers actually gained access to the California Department of State Hospitals.2
This unfortunate attack shows that dental practices need to work with IT service providers who understand the evolving landscape of cybersecurity and how these threats may impact healthcare providers. Moreover, practices need enterprise-grade equipment backed by IT professionals who are willing to sign a HIPAA business associate agreement and who routinely undergo their own security audits to prevent breaches.
Dental practices can affordably receive this comprehensive level of service with TechCentral by Henry Schein One, a trusted dental technology company. They can take the proactive measure of installing Omnicore, an IT technology stack that’s uniquely designed for the needs of the digital dental practice, including network security.
Referred to as a “network in a box,” Omnicore is a flagship hardware-as-a-service (HaaS) offering that was the subject of a recently published e-book. With Omnicore, TechCentral fully manages the hardware technology stack and maintains the IT network for practices in one affordable monthly subscription cost.
With Omnicore, dental practices enjoy:
Omnicore from TechCentral provides dental practices with all-encompassing cybersecurity and essential IT services. TechCentral carefully selects hardware components for the needs of the digital dental practice and packages them together. The monthly service fee for Omnicore is predictable and budgetary, so practices don’t have to borrow money to enjoy a state-of-the-art IT infrastructure.
With Omnicore, practices can plan for a monthly operating expense, like they would budget for their payroll service or Internet bill. TechCentral takes on the capital expenditure risk by providing and managing the equipment under a service agreement. If a piece of TechCentral IT equipment stops working, TechCentral is responsible for replacing it. The practice is only responsible for paying the monthly service fee, an operating expense, which protects their bottom line.
The TechCentral team actively monitors each of their Omnicore customers to prevent problems before they occur. As part of the all-inclusive service experience, clients are often notified about issues or outages in their area that may affect operations, before they even realize there is a problem.
Additionally, TechCentral is continually striving to improve the Omnicore platform. At no additional cost, the latest release of Omnicore offerings includes employee secure remote access and workstation (endpoint) protection for all workstations installed at the practice. It’s the same active monitoring, management, updates, and antivirus protection that customers receive with the Omnicore hardware, helping you ensure that the entire network is protected end-to-end. In light of the rising telehealth and the work-from-anywhere trends during the COVID-19 pandemic,5 the secure remote access and the unlimited workstation protection are now more important than ever. The secure remote access and the unlimited workstation protection has an estimated value of $150 to $300/month depending upon the size of your practice. Again, these services come standard with Omnicore.
TechCentral’s Hybrid Backup Service, a remotely managed backup and recovery solution, is also included in the Omnicore service. With Hybrid Backup, dental practices don’t have to worry about cumbersome data backup processes. The TechCentral team remotely manages the backup of practice data, while monitoring the system daily for potential vulnerabilities.
In today’s digital landscape, it’s more important than ever for dental practices to safeguard themselves against cyberattacks. With TechCentral’s Omnicore, dental professionals can enjoy intuitive cybersecurity and essential IT support for one, low monthly payment.
To learn more about how Omnicore can protect your dental practice, download the free ebook now.
This article is paid for by Henry Schein One TechCentral. Certain components of the products may be provided by third parties. Henry Schein One, LLC and its affiliates are not responsible for, and expressly disclaim, all liability for damages of any kind arising out of the use of those third-party products or services.
Sources:
1 https://ung.edu/continuing-education/news-and-media/cybersecurity.php
3 https://www.fundera.com/resources/small-business-cyber-security-statistics