The tech industry is littered with buzzwords: overused jargon generally meant to inspire feelings of hope and accomplishment. Not all have positive connotations however, and data compliance is one of those spooky buzzwords that many small- and medium-sized businesses have scant specific knowledge about.

Ease of access, legibility, and accuracy are all key factors when you’re maintaining important business records. They’re even more important when it comes to the tracking of medical patients’ information. And thanks EHR, you no longer need to shuffle through reams of paper files, attempt to decipher doctors’ messy handwriting, or wonder if the data is up-to-date.

Corporate giants like Microsoft, Google and Apple are essentially cultural icons because their software and hardware innovations have been, dare we say, revolutionary. Similarly, in the not-too-distant future, we’ll be looking back and marvelling about how healthcare once existed without some of the radical-sounding technologies that are tantalizingly close to becoming reality.

Medical records are generally inaccessible and hard to understand. In fact, if you were to try reading your own medical data, you might find that it’s almost as if it’s in a different language. A medical record can be riddled with cryptic phrases, acronyms and complex terms that mean nothing in the eyes of someone that didn’t study medicine for eight years.

ESPN recently reported that a laptop containing the medical records of thousands of NFL players was stolen from the car of a Washington Redskins’ trainer. And while the team released a statement saying no health information protected under HIPAA guidelines was at risk, the incident shows that EMRs are vulnerable no matter the size of your company.

“We are living in a digital world, and healthcare practices need a URL”. If Madonna could change the lyrics of her 1984 classic to speak to the healthcare industry, she may have sang something like this. A URL is just one facet of the digital strategy that hospitals and private practices alike will need to adapt if they wish to remain competitive in today’s world.

A recent initiative to give healthcare patients access to the notes their doctor or clinician writes about their visit is continuing its meteoric rise across the country. OpenNotes began a few years ago by researching the benefits of allowing patients to have access to their doctor’s notes.

Ransomware is becoming a growing problem for the healthcare industry. And with around a dozen attacks on hospitals being reported since the beginning of the year, you may be wondering just how severe the problem is. Should you be alarmed? How can you protect your practice? Here’s an inside look at how the ransomware epidemic is affecting the US and Canadian healthcare systems.

Make no mistake, healthcare costs are rising. For business owners who are generous enough to offer their employees insurance, this is undoubtedly a cause for concern. And you may wonder, is there any way to protect your employees and not go bankrupt in the process? Wearable technologies may be the answer.

More patients are turning to a self-service approach when it comes to healthcare. Now this doesn’t mean they’ve taken to operating on themselves, but they are checking into hospitals without the help of medical administrators. Similar to portal technology, self-service kiosks can help streamline administrative tasks like hospital registration and payment.