The Datamax Thinking Blog

Happy New Year from the Datamax Thinking Blog!

Thanks for stopping by during the Holidays. I hope you've enjoyed reading these posts and much as I've (usually) enjoyed writing them. Here are the six most popular Datamax Texas posts for all of 2016. Enjoy and learn for the first time or refresh your memory – read on.

Click on the following titles to read the posts.

Most businesses don't know what they don't know when it comes to printing and copying.

Getting the right mix of office equipment is hard for companies. I've been writing recently about the value of assessments and how they help drive good business decisions when it comes to technology selection.

As the year winds down and another is soon to begin, now is a perfect time for thinking about your plans for next year. Do you ever sit down and think about how you could be doing things better, how you could be printing for less?

Only taking the time to plan will get your office in the shape you need it to be to do the best you can for your customers.

Protected health information could be more likely to be breached than digital records. Here are some tips to keep that information secure.

I've written about HIPAA compliance from a few angles recently; copier hard drives, restricting and monitoring access to the copier, and using document management software or an EHR to help keep patient records secure.

I haven't written about paper yet. And as much as many of us might like to go 100% digital in our business processes, most of us aren't there yet. And I know when I go to the doctor, I still see the color-coded manila folders containing patient files on the sliding file cabinets behind the reception desk.

In 2012, there were more breaches involving medical records on paper covered by HIPAA than electronic records – 45 from mid-May to mid-June. “Hacking” information doesn't just happen to digital information. Paper records and electronic records need to be treated the same – don't forget about the paper!

When it comes to identifying business needs and how to achieve them with technology; you need a proven process. Here's ours.

We're going to help you discover yourself.

I know, that sounds weird coming from a copier dealer and managed network services company. I feel a little like a self-help guru typing that. 

“We've got IT covered” is how we like to put it. That can sound so insufferably smug. However, we do know what we're doing and we know that we can help you.

However, I understand the skepticism. You're worried that we're just going to sell you what we sell – regardless of if it's a good fit or not.

You can ignore change issues when introducing new technology and fail. Or you can focus on managing changes and training everyone on the new technology and processes and succeed.

People hate to change.

Change is hard. If you've ever tried to break a bad habit or start a healthy new one (we're all starting to think about resolutions for next year, right?); you know exactly what I'm talking about.

When it's time to improve your business' processes by adding new technology – anything from new process management software to CRM to digital copiers – changing employees' existing habits can be hard.

Do You Have Any Clue What You Need? Digital Copiers, Document Management, and Managed Networks

“Alice asked the Cheshire Cat, who was sitting in a tree, “What road do I take?”
The cat asked, “Where do you want to go?”
“I don’t know,” Alice answered.
“Then,” said the cat, “it really doesn’t matter, does it?” 
― Lewis Carroll, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland

If you've spent any time on our website, you know we place a high value on assessments – we offer one on just about every page!

An EHR system should increase medical office productivity and reduce the time it takes to respond to patients and other medical professionals.

Sloppy electronic health record management erodes patient trust and can leave your office open to Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) and Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) violations. By using the correct equipment and performing regular audits on electronic health records, you can make sure that no one within your office is violating HIPAA. Having the appropriate safeguards in place also protects you from malicious third parties who might want to gain access to your patients' information.

HIPAA compliance isn't always easy and there are real penalties for non-compliance. The tips on document management, auditing, and keeping digital copiers secure that follow will help.

“Gratitude shifts your focus from what your life lacks to the abundance that is already present.” – Marelisa Fábrega

Thank you.

Two small words that mean so much.

As Thanksgiving is in two days, all of us here at Datamax are thankful to all of our Raving Fans. Even if you're not a Raving Fan (yet), but a regular reader of our blog – Thank you.

We are grateful for the many blessings we have. We're grateful for the trust all of our customers place in us to support your businesses.

They're just two simple words, but, from the bottom of our hearts: Thank you!

HIPAA was passed 20 years ago this year. It's only in the past two years that guidance on digital copiers and other office equipment has been included within the regulation.

Both the risk and the cost of data breaches in the healthcare industry are going up. Technological advances are providing valuable case-wide "interoperability" while also creating much higher risks of losses and breaches. Evolving healthcare information security regulations are creating duties for a broader scope of healthcare enterprises. At the center of the two are the health IT experts who must ensure both document security and easy accessibility by authorized users while protecting against an expanding and deepening pool of technological threats. Some of those threats are surprising:

One takes the shape of the innocuous office copier.

If you need to print confidential documents securely, pull printing can be your answer.

How often have you walked past a copier or printer's output tray and cringed to notice a confidential document sitting in plain view there?

When your business deals daily with documents that contain confidential or protected personal information (like law offices and medical professionals who need to be HIPAA compliant), you need a way to keep the documents that you need to print secure. Pull printing (often called follow me printing or secure print release) is one way to ensure that only the right people have access to those documents.