If a vendor touches your patient data, HIPAA requires a signed Business Associate Agreement before they do that work. Most practices are missing more of these than they realize — here's who needs one and what's at stake.
Standard email is not HIPAA-compliant. If your front desk or providers are emailing PHI through a regular inbox, you have a compliance gap. Here's what the rules actually require and what options work for dental practices.
HHS has finalized rules requiring dental practices that receive federal financial assistance to make their websites and digital tools accessible to people with disabilities. Large practices must comply by May 2027 — small practices by May 2028.
Having backups is not the same as having working backups. Most dental practices discover the difference at the worst possible moment — when they need to recover from a ransomware attack or server failure.
Offering patients Wi-Fi in the waiting room is a nice touch — but if that network touches the same infrastructure as your Dentrix server and imaging systems, you have a serious security problem.
When a team member connects their personal phone or laptop to the same network as your practice management system, they may be introducing threats you have no visibility into — and creating a HIPAA compliance gap.
Employee turnover is a fact of life in dental practices. But every departure that isn't followed by a credential audit leaves a door open — sometimes literally, to your patient records and financial systems.