eDossea Newsbytes
July 2012
3 Hot Buttons to Trigger an OCR Audit: The Office of Civil Rights, which oversees enforcement of HIPAA, has grown its activity to monitor all covered entities including dental. Complaints from patients and past employees are included on this list via Healthcare IT News.
New Webinar - The Cloud is Happening Now! Last Thursday night, eDossea's Shawn Harrington joined the Digital Dentist's Webinar to discuss the latest advancements of cloud computing in Dentistry. The presentation has received extremely high praise from the dental community. If you missed this, catch a replay in Featured Videos: Web-based Technology Impacting Your Dental Practice in 2012.
"Do You Take My Insurance?": Whether you're the one asking this or the practice manager who picks up the phone to answer, the first response could be the make or break factor on receiving treatment from a new dentist. Hear one dental consultant's perspective on a new way to view this question.
TEDx Kicks Into High Gear: The week of July 15th jumped off to a start in our company's hometown with the 3rd annual TedxDesMoines. Over 300 attendees converged at the Science Center of Iowa for a day of live talks. Catch key takeaways on the eDossea Blog "TEDx Shows a Society Pushing New Ideas" and hear why you should expect much more to come from the worldwide TEDx.
Dental Economics Feature - Dangers of Emailing Xrays: Patient Identity Theft, increased HIPAA enforcement and documentation of unneeded retakes are growing new concerns in the field of dentistry due to the high volume of emailed patient information. A look into how the risks can impact each individual practice and the new factors to consider were covered in the June Edition of Dental Economics Magazine.
eDossea 2.0 Launched: The practices using eDossea have began to dive into the latest features of the program for higher security and ease of use. Stay tuned for an upcoming announcement as this hits its wide release!
Southwest - An Example for Every Business: How should a business handle upset customers? Cancelled appointments? Many examples are known for how Southwest Airlines has built a company culture that has led to future success. When viewing the big picture, always remember to "Do The Right Thing", as Linda Zdanowicz explains.
Reasons to Fear Change? We all strive to advance our lives and look for new ways to do just that. Sometimes the answers are right in front of us and yet we still fail to take advantage. A recent post by Robert David Hays explores this: CHANGE - Be Afraid, Be Very, Very Afraid...Actually, Don't Sweat It. You Might Even Like It.
Yesterday proved again what's becoming one of my favorite days of the year, as TedxDesMoines took place at the Science Center of Iowa. As fun as it can be to learn all year from the thousands of Tedx speeches splashed across the web (see youtube: TedxTalks), it can lead to a build-up of anticipation to see what my own community is ready to produce.
Taking my brother down there on a Sunday morning for his first Ted conference, I almost felt like I could be over-selling it by telling him all he had to do was sit-in to have a day full of energy and inspiration. I did not oversell this though, as the event definitely lived up to its hype. Based on the reviews and discussions pouring out from yesterday, TedxDesMoines hit its desired goals and can start looking forward to its series of follow-up events.
Even though it's natural for those of us in the technology and startup community to gravitate to events like Ted and its spinoff Tedx, the various crowds that attend will show that it reaches far beyond that. The combined focus on Technology, Entertainment & Design has found its way of opening the door to broader discussions and a new view of our surrounding world. If someone is an expert on something we already know about and agree with, they're not going to be selected as a guest presenter. If they can inspire us to think different and with a new passion towards innovation, then chances are they may hit this list of candidates.
Innovation is key, and more importantly is transforming our modern day environment to adapt innovation. As Lee Fisher said yesterday, there are kids in school right now who will work to solve problems we don't yet know we have with technology that does not yet exist.
For a detailed recap of Des Moines' talks with all of yesterday's speakers, check out Justin Wise's 'The Ultimate Recap'. If there's an indepently organized Tedx in your area, I encourage you to get there. What you'll find is yourself surrounded by a crowd of the most open-minded people you will meet, who are ready to grasp ideas that impact our lives and society.
It's a crowd worth being in.
-Shawn Harrington
on Twitter: @eDossea
One of the primary concerns in Dentistry has been the call to action by practices to avoid standard emailing of Protected Health Information. Patient Xrays and referral forms both fall into this category and are coming under scrutiny for how they are being handled electronically. June's Edition of Dental Economics Magazine dove into this further in the published article Sending Dental Xrays - Why Email Should Not Be Your Option:
In recent years, one of the growing concerns in dentistry is the increase of email use to transfer patient health records. As dental treatments have traditionally required referring patients to outside specialists, there has been a growing need to send their health records electronically. The mindset of email being an efficient method has misled many dental practices into thinking that email is the best alternative to printing.
Dentists now realize they must end the use of email for sending health records, but what do they do instead? Many have been comforted that they can continue to share online without the risk of an IT overhaul. New online platforms, such as the one provided by eDossea (http://www.edossea.com/), have made it easy to send files electronically. This new technology has surprised the dentists who have used it by how much it has improved the referral process. <Read the rest of this article on DentalEconomics.com>
The conversation has been growing and we're glad that eDossea has been recognized as a solution to this among Dentistry's top leaders. As we have in the past, our team and our partners will look forward to working with many more practice owners who look to overcome risk through new efficiencies.
-Shawn Harrington
on Twitter: @eDossea
eDossea Newsbytes
June 2012
ecFirst Exclusive - HIPAA Policy for the Dental Practice: We hear from dental managers who are still determining their next steps to advance HIPAA Compliance within their practice. This overcomes much more than transferring records and extends into analysis of privacy & security gaps, along with breach notification policies. As a partner of eDossea, ecFirst has offered their full Special Compliance Package for Dental Practices, with reserved discounts for eDossea members.
Frontline to Air "Dollars and Dentists": PBS' investigative team will cover what it believes to be flaws in the American Dental System, with a look into issues surrounding corporate chains. The "Dollars and Dentists" preview is out for the June 26th show that will be sure to spark controversial discussion in the dental community.
Public Clouds are More Secure than Private Clouds? Catch this post by ZapThink, which examines how the public cloud has advanced to higher security and efficiency. Public cloud providers are continually attracting top talent and implementing the newest forms of security standards at a lightning fast rate. What was once feared as a risk has been overcome by the new way to implement programs for medical technology.
Stereotypes of Dentists: It's no myth that dental patients may be refraining from treatment as a result of their own pre-judgements. Whether it's fear of pain or expectation of high costs, today's dentist's are commonly battling ways to put their clients at ease. In his June 4th post, Dr. Dan Sindelar offers insight with 5 Tips for Escaping Stereotypes.
eDossea is on Facebook: Yes, we're now here 
The FAQ's of Pediatric Dentistry: How old is too old for pacifiers? Why are primary teeth important? Find a list of these common questions answered by Des Moines Pediatric Dental Center along with learning when it may be time for your kid's first dental visit.
Inc. Features Midwest Startups as "Secretive & Scrappy": The online magazine recently featured their article "Inside the Midwest's Secretive and Scrappy Startup Scene". The lead-up is a reporter from New York City who visits Omaha to dive into the hurdles and emerging opportunities coming from the region's startups. It also provides a glimpse of some key players and resources that help ignite our region's tech companies right now.
eDossea Version 2.0: Clients of eDossea will begin to see the newest features as our program "graduates" from Version 1.0 in the coming days. We look forward to sharing our advancements and fulfilling the need for online record sharing in Dentistry!
Don't Forget... Members who refer a dentist now get Free Service from eDossea,
An orthodontist and his manager were just asking how they'll be gaining advantages when moving their records to an online platform. They actually had done plenty of research and knew the answer, yet were inviting conversation as to why the dental industry as a whole has not accepted this yet. It's a unique question that's now moving from debatable to agreeable.
Any practice owner keeping on top of IT in recent years can be familiar with the Private Cloud, which could directly refer to their own set of servers. When comparing the new advantages of the Public Cloud over this, I think this post by ZapThink outlines the main points that need attention:
Conventional wisdom would have you believe that Public Clouds are inherently insecure, and that the only way to meet your organization’s stringent security requirements in the Cloud is to implement your own Private Cloud. Conventional wisdom, you say? Unfortunately, there is precious little wisdom available of any kind when it comes to Cloud Computing, let alone the conventional type!
In fact, large software and hardware vendors are largely responsible for the whole “Public Cloud is insecure” canard, introducing fear, uncertainty, and doubt (FUD) into the marketplace. After all, building a Private Cloud means buying a lot of new gear. The last thing the big vendors want is for their customers to move to Public Clouds—unless, of course, they belong to the vendor in question. Don’t be fooled. Public Clouds are typically more secure than Private Clouds, for a number of reasons. Here’s why.
Why Public Clouds are More Secure… <Read this post on ZapThink>
-Shawn Harrington
on Twitter: @eDossea
