Thank Goodness for Backups…and IT Guys
We all know about the importance of having good data backups. Well, I’m here to tell you how true that is. About 2 hours into a relatively normal workday, one of the two hard drives in the server failed. Just like that, we were dead in the water.
My first phone call was to my IT guy. He came right over, took my server away, and assured me that we had good backups – no worries.
In today’s digital age, dental practices rely heavily on technology to manage patient records, appointments, billing, and more. From electronic health records (EHR) to imaging systems, data is the backbone of modern dentistry. Unexpected server crashes or hardware failures can disrupt your practice’s operations, leading to canceled appointments and frustrated patients.
Regular server backups ensure that you can restore critical data quickly. Having off-site or cloud-based server backups ensures your data is safe and recoverable, even if your office is physically damaged. Server backups are not just a “nice-to-have” but an essential safeguard for protecting your practice and patients. In fact, when we conduct annual training with dental practices, https://www.advanceddentaladmin.com/ we advise to follow the HIPAA Security Rule https://www.hhs.gov/hipaa/for-professionals/security/index.html protocol to protect patient electronic health records with backups, encryption, and firewall security.
While having a robust server backup system is crucial, ensuring its proper implementation and maintenance requires expertise. This is where a dedicated IT professional comes in. For dental practices, having a knowledgeable IT person—whether in-house or outsourced—is vital to ensuring your technology runs seamlessly, your data remains secure, and your backup systems function as intended.
Some dental practices may be tempted to manage backups themselves. However, the risks of misconfiguration, data loss, or slow recovery far outweigh the cost of professional IT support. A dedicated IT person acts as your safety net, ensuring your practice’s data systems are always secure, up-to-date, and optimized. Combining robust server backups with the expertise of a dedicated IT professional creates a powerful defense for your dental practice.