MMP FileConnect | Manage My Practice

Posts Tagged MMP FileConnect

Is Dropbox Putting Your Medical Practice’s Compliance Plan at Risk?

Posted by Abraham Whaley on September 24, 2012

Since its release in 2008, Internet File Storage tool Dropbox has been a big hit with people who have to keep track of files on multiple computers. Users can download a free program that lets them upload files to “the cloud” (see: a server or servers connected to the Internet), and then can access the files on any other device: other PCs or Macs, any web browser, even a smartphone or tablet. The program puts a small, “dropbox” in the bottom corner of the user’s screen and any file dragged into the icon is automatically uploaded. When the user looks at the dropbox on another device, the file is there waiting.

Dropbox has been wildly popular because it is extremely useful: it saves people time and makes them more productive, and is free for the first 2GB of storage. Users can either earn more free storage by referring friends to the program, or purchase more storage with plans that start at $9.99 per month. There are also group plans that allow for centralized file sharing.

In fact, some of your employees could be using Dropbox in your practice right now to let them work from home or the road, or sync multiple work computers, or even give them access to work data on their mobile devices. As all healthcare management professionals know, this has the potential to be a huge problem. The data that is handled in many daily tasks in a medical practice is protected not only by patient confidentiality, but also by federal regulations with some serious financial teeth. On Dropbox’s website, they go after the question head on:

“Unfortunately, Dropbox does not currently have HIPAA, FERPA, SAS 70, ISO 9001, ISO 27001, or PCI certifications. We’ll update this page with any new certifications as we receive them, so please do check back”

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Tags: Box, cloud storage for medical practice paperwork, dropbox, FileConnect, is box.net hipaa compliant?, MMP FileConnect

Posted in: Compliance, Day-to-Day Operations, General

12 Ways to Supercharge Your Practice in 2012: #8 Leverage “The Cloud” for Real Results

Posted by Mary Pat Whaley on May 1, 2012

Three technology trends are creating big opportunities for healthcare providers and managers to improve their bottom line, drive savings, and empower a mobile workforce with “The Cloud”:

Improved cellular and network access to the Internet at all times, from all devices.

More powerful, less expensive smartphones and mobile devices to harness this improved access.

The move to deliver computing services to these mobile devices, as well as traditional personal computers through these ubiquitous, powerful Internet connections, so that most of the work is actually done “In the Cloud”- saving a lot of resources.

The Cloud is more than just a fashionable concept – this is a real change in the way people work– and leading organizations are looking past the buzz into the substantive improvements that technology can offer in work flow and cash flow.

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Tags: board certified, cloud collaboration, Cloud computing, FileConnect, get your practice on the cloud, how do you organize medical office files?, MMP FileConnect, organizing a file cabinet, the cloud

Posted in: 12 Ways to Supercharge Your Practice, Collections, Billing & Coding, Day-to-Day Operations, Electronic Medical Records, General, Human Resources, Innovation

Record Retention Simplified – The Ultimate Guideline

Posted by Mary Pat Whaley on November 14, 2011

Record retention can be a significant problem for healthcare groups. Different federal and state regulations require different retention schedules for medical records and other medical-service related documents. Many managers and physicians are confused on how long they should maintain records and how best to store all this paper. Here’s an updated record retention schedule that is in sync with medical malpractice insurers (check with your malpractice carrier) and accounting firms.

There are all kinds of numbers floating around for retaining records, but unless you are focusing ONLY on record retention, you”d have to be very organized to separate what can be shredded in 1 year, 3 years, 6 years, 7 years, etc. I prefer to categorize everything into three basic categories: Save it Forever, Save it for 7 years, and Save it according to state requirements. Here is (almost) everything broken into my three categories.

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Tags: age of majority, Box, cloud storage for medical practice paperwork, HIPAA Covered Entities must retain billing records for how long?, how long to save medical records, keeping applications for people you don't hire, keeping pediatric charts, MMP FileConnect, offsite data center storage, records to save forever, storing EOBs, storing financial records, Storing medical records, storing payroll records, storing personnel records, updated record retention schedule

Posted in: Compliance, Day-to-Day Operations, Innovation

Free At Last. My Phone Contract Ends and I Get Smartphone Advice From My Partner

Posted by Mary Pat Whaley on June 26, 2011

Square in action!

At long last, my two-year contract with my current cell phone carrier is over and I am free again! Of course, I immediately turned to my son & partner Abraham for some sage smartphone advice. Here’s the conversation we had.

Mary Pat: What things should I consider when choosing a smartphone?

Abraham: Smartphones are so much more than just telephones, so the first question is always “How will you be using it?”. If you really just need to make the occasional phone call from the road and nothing else, you probably don’t even need a smartphone. A simple, old-fashioned flip phone, or bar-style device will do just fine. For everyone else, picture the things you’ll want to do on the phone. Is it mostly a business device- checking emails, editing documents, and having access to critical data? Or will you also want to watch streaming videos in your downtime, play games, or take pictures and movies to send to friends and family? It’s easy to look at a phone’s capabilities and stereotype what the average user would be like: iPhones seem so hip, Blackberrys seem so serious, Androids seem so geeky. The reality is that all smartphones on the market today probably have enough muscle (and apps!) to make anyone happy. So choose a phone based on features, comfort, and specifications – not the label or the image that comes with it.

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Tags: Abraham Whaley, advantages of smartphones, Androids are geeky, Apple iPhone, Ask friends about their phones, Blackberrys are serious, Box.net, carrier-specific, cell reception, critical data on the go, does technology make you work harder?, email on your phone, Feedly, free voice and video calls, Goole Android, iOS, iPhones are hip, is a smartphone a tool or a leash?, MMP FileConnect, mobile devices, mobile workforce, Putting the phone hype aside, Quickoffice, rich content on your phone, RIM Blackberry, RSS feeds, Skype, smartphone apps, smartphone contract, Smartphone features, Splashtop Remote, Square, taking payments on your smartphone, things to consider when buying a smartphone, VOIP, web access on your phone, what is a newsreader?

Posted in: Innovation, Learn This: Technology Answers

Introducing Manage My Practice Tools and MMP FileConnect!

Posted by Mary Pat Whaley on May 1, 2011

It is my pleasure to announce Manage My Practice’s first product in our new Manage My Practice Tools section – MMP FileConnect.

MMP FileConnect is a simple and affordable way to:

Increase efficiency in your practice by reducing workflow issues and duplication of paperwork.
Cut expenses for on-site and off-site storage.
Promote collaboration and teamwork between departments, locations and employee silos.
Reduce risk by keeping critical documents secure.
Access files anywhere from any browser or mobile device (especially great for the docs!)

How does MMP FileConnect work?

MMP FileConnect is similar to a new and improved filing cabinet that resides in the cloud (a secure Internet domain), not on your server. It allows the administrator to design a folder and file system and assign users permissions (view, upload, download, edit, etc.) in their practice.

The administrator can set up groups of users with the same permissions, and can easily add or delete users, change existing groups’ settings, or change file organization. In my practice I have a structure something like this:

Employees
- Office Forms such as PTO requests, fax cover sheets and reimbursement requests
- Patient Forms such as demographic sheets and financial agreements
- Calendars such as call calendars, vacation calendars and birthday calendars
- Lists & Reference Documents – internal and external phone lists, practice abbreviations, and insurance plans the group participates with.
Physicians & Administrator
- Monthly Financials
- Reimbursement Requests
- Time Off Notifications
Billing Staff
- Provider CME records
- Provider Credentialing Records
- Payer Contract Summaries
Administrator
- Personnel Files
- Payroll Files & Compensation Spreadsheet
- Contracts & Leases

You can also invite external users to be a part of MMP FileConnect for easy communication surrounding documents. My benefits broker is a user so I can place new employee benefit enrollment forms on FileConnect and she is immediately notified without me having to send an email. She can download the enrollments and process them immediately. An added benefit is that I have a tracking record of when I placed the forms there and when she picked them up.

What about the security of MMP FileConnect?

MMP FileConnect is built on the Box.net platform. Box knows the healthcare industry is one of the world’s most demanding marketplaces when it comes to data security and customer privacy. The implicit trust between a provider and a patient is critical to all stakeholders. With MMP FileConnect and Box you can be sure that your stored data is absolutely safe. Box has a SAS 70 type II certification, meaning it has been independently audited by the AICPA for sensitivity in handling healthcare data. All of your data on MMP FileConnect is 256-Bit AES encrpyted both in storage and in transfer. There is the capability for a complete audit, giving you the tools to monitor and manage your information with peace of mind. On top of that, Box.net has a guaranteed uptime of 99.9%, so you can count on your data being there anytime you need it.

Do I have to logon to a website every time I want to use a document?

One of the best features of MMP FileConnect is the desktop file sync feature. Every user can keep a desktop folder of most-used files and folders stored on FileConnect and can utilize them without going to a browser or using a login and password. Anytime a file is updated by any user, the newest version automatically syncs to the appropriate desktops.

What else can it do?

For more ideas on how to use this amazing tool, see my post on “76 Ways to Use the Cloud” here. Every one of those 76 ways is doable with MMP FileConnect!

What does MMP FileConnect cost?

A very affordable $25 per month per user, with discounts for paying annually and for groups of 50 users or more.

Tell me more!

For more information and an opportunity to try MMP FileConnect free for 28 days, click here to contact us.

Image via Wikipedia

Tags: 76 Ways to use the Cloud, assign employee permissions, Box, Box.net, can PHI be put on the cloud?, cloud computing in healthcare, easy communication, getting rid of staff silos, healthcare security on the cloud, how to cut expenses, how to get files anywhere from any device, how to increase efficiency, how to promote teamwork, how to reduce risk, immediate notification, is the cloud secure?, MMP FileConnect, new employee benefit enrollment forms, tracking record

Posted in: Day-to-Day Operations, Human Resources, Innovation, Learn This: Technology Answers

Why I Joined Manage My Practice, LLC

Posted by Abraham Whaley on May 1, 2011

Last week I accepted an offer from Mary Pat to become the COO of the new corporation she has formed, Manage My Practice, LLC.

Together, we are excited to move MMP to its next phase.

Now the Medical Manager’s Secret Weapon is even more powerful by offering products and services that give your practice added flexibility and efficiency and that meet Mary Pat’s undisputed standard for practice-tested quality.

Helping people get the most out of technology is a passion that has kept me interested in the MMP blog. Mary Pat’s curiosity and confidence in bringing innovation to the industry has made her one of today’s leading voices on the ways healthcare organizations and managers can get the most bang for their technology buck. I have been honored in the past to be invited to demystify some of the current technological trends as the author of the category of posts called “Learn This” for MMP.

As COO of Manage My Practice, I hope to expand that role to not only add more and better actionable content to the blog, but also to introduce readers to a carefully selected line of MMP-approved products and services that they can use to take their organization to the next level.

We call this new offering Manage My Practice Tools (find it here) and we hope you will find it as useful and valuable as you do the Manage My Practice blog.

The first MMP Tool we offer you is MMP FileConnect. Built on the Box platform, it allows your staff, providers and external stakeholders to share files over desktop, web and mobile platforms. MMP FileConnect allows you to create a living repository of your documents, calenders, spreadsheets, images, portable document files (PDFs) and more.

As a cloud-based filing cabinet and as a project management and communication tool, MMP FileConnect lets you and your team manage administrative and critical data tasks securely from wherever you are.

I am thrilled to be joining the Manage My Practice team during this exciting new time, and beyond heading up the new MMP Tools service, I’ll be expanding my presence on the blog with a special focus on making sense of the latest technology news and products with a constant focus on one question: “How can this help Medical Practice Managers?” I hope you will leave your comments on this post or write to me here with topics you’d like to see me write about on MMP.

I look forward to providing the answers you’ve come to rely on finding on Manage My Practice.

-Abraham Whaley, COO, Manage My Practice, LLC.

Tags: Abraham Whaley, getting the most out of technology, MMP FileConnect, MMP Tools

Posted in: Innovation, Learn This: Technology Answers