The main lessons I have learnt from being broken into:
1. Make your premises unattractive to burglars - cut down trees and have good secure windows
2. Have a computer ready to bring on site in emergency
3. Make sure you have reliable and frequent computer backups
4. Have all important information on your computer encrypted
Further notes:
Probably soon after discovering that your computers have been stolen the thought of backups will come to mind and will cause thoughts ranging from ‘when did I last backup and I hope they are ok?’ to ’this is absolute disaster’. It is only when you need them that you realise how important they are. Backups have to be regular, checked for integrity and kept off site. I have a Time Machine (automatic hourly and archived) backup in addition to a daily hard disc backup of the whole computer and daily backups of my most important files. Time Machine is great if you happen to delete a file and need it recover it. It can also be good for restoring all your files in the case of your computer being stolen. However, Time Machine backups are more often than not kept on site. So if your practice is burnt down or your Time Machine is built into your Wireless Router (eg. Airport Time Capsule) - and it is stolen - then this backup is no good to you. Time Machine backups left on site should be thought of as a supplementary backup with easy accessto accidentally deleted files. For total computer Hard Disc backups I use SuperDuper. Like many other programs it can be set to only backup changed files and the Hard Disc can used as a Boot Drive.
By the time you get done with the police, insurance company and ordering and waiting for your computers you are probably at least 3 weeks down the track. The lesson here is that you need a computer replacement plan. Depending on your set up you will need at least one computer that you can call on at short notice that you can put at least your accounts software and appointment diary on to run your practice. In my case it was a laptop from home. As much as this was a nuisance at least the practice could still keep running. I was able to update the Calendar with my appontments by logging into iCloud and insall Filemaker and use EzyPAASS. This allowed me to keep up with Visits, Payments, Accounts and treatment notes. I hate to think how time consuming entering 3-4 weeks of data would be.
At some time after your computers are stolen you will get to thiniking about what is on the computers that you would not want others to know. While the burglar probably just wants to sell your computer for easy some easy money what if they had a look through what is on your computer? Friends phone numbers and email addresses? Probably public knowledge. Bank account details? Once again probably known by many others. When it gets to patient details and notes it gets a bit less clear. Why a burglar would want patient notes I am not sure but they should be kept secure for privacy reasons. Now the real crunch comes. Have you got passwords, PINs, logins that you don’t want in someone else’s hands on your computer? If not where do you keep them? I keep all my sensitive information on my computer BUT it is locked down by strong encryption. My personal information is kept in a program called 1 Password and patient details and treatment notes are kept encrypted in a program called Knox. If your vital information is not encrypted and locked with a secure password then you are vulnerable.