In today’s blog post, we had a conversation with Reuben Kamp, Founder and CEO of Darkhorse Tech. Reuben provides some valuable insights for Open Dental users.
What do you think are the most important things for a dental office to look for in an IT vendor?
Dental offices should prioritize vendors who understand dental-specific software and workflows, maintain stringent cybersecurity practices to ensure HIPAA compliance, provide responsive and passionate customer support, and offer scalable solutions that grow with the practice.
What IT challenges or issues do you believe offices should be most concerned with?
The biggest IT concerns for dental practices include ransomware attacks, data breaches leading to HIPAA violations, downtime due to system failures, inefficient data backup solutions, and maintaining consistent software updates to avoid vulnerabilities. Ransomware is most commonly impacting practices through unsecure email systems and free anti-virus solutions.
What security measures do you recommend offices implement to protect themselves and their patient data?
The studies show that 40% of dental practices that experienced a breach, went out of business. To that end, we recommend implementing multi-layered cybersecurity, including endpoint protection, advanced firewalls, regular HIPAA risk assessments, comprehensive employee cybersecurity training, robust data backups, and multi-factor authentication (MFA) across all systems. Implementing these solutions should remove any hacking fears or downtime impact from your practice.
How can practices streamline the software installation and updates process (including Open Dental, Windows, and other updates) to minimize downtime?
Practices should leverage automated management solutions like remote monitoring and management (RMM) tools to schedule and execute updates outside working hours. Partnering with an IT vendor like Darkhorse Tech ensures proactive maintenance, scheduling of Open Dental and automated Windows updates, and minimal disruption to daily operations. Do check with your 3rd party integrations on if they support the latest Open Dental update before scheduling!
What common technical issues have you seen dental offices encounter? How can offices minimize these issues?
Common technical issues include slow or outdated hardware causing productivity loss, poorly managed software updates leading to disruptions, weak or inconsistent Wi-Fi, and inadequate cybersecurity measures. Cheap printers and scanners (peripherals) are one of the most common reasons people have IT issues. Offices can minimize these issues by regularly updating hardware (more than 5 years old), scheduling routine maintenance and software updates, investing in robust network infrastructure, and working closely with specialized dental IT providers.
What Open Dental features do you recommend most as an IT professional?
From a security-focused IT perspective, we highly recommend Open Dental’s Audit Trail to monitor and track access to patient data, Secure Messaging to facilitate HIPAA-compliant communication, and robust Permission Settings to ensure users have appropriate access levels to sensitive information, allowing us to uphold minimum necessary use!
Darkhorse Tech is a nationwide IT company serving over 1,200 clients in the dental industry. From startups to established practices, Darkhorse can help. For more information, visit darkhorsetech.com.