Notes from the 10th Annual Legal CIO Forum

On April 24 Biscom particpated in the 10^th Annual Legal CIO Forum as a sponsor for the second year.  The Forum, attended by more than 35 AmLaw 200 CIOs, covered  topics and panel discussions relating to the critical challenges  facing law firm IT leaders in the post-downturn market.  Based upon the presentations and conversations, here are some of the most prominent trends and ideas that surfaced at the CIO Forum:

• Rates are rising: The demand for legal services has risen by 3 percent compared to last year and this has been followed by a slight rate hike of 6-8 percent. However, a majority of attendees are getting pressure to support alternative fee arrangements.
• Budgets staying level, but still have limitations: None of the polled CIOs indicated that they were asked to cut back on their budgets, although expenses continue to rise. Limitations include a difficulty in approving contract employees and a stalemate on technology investments due to the recession. Another challenge? As one CIO said, “Storage alone is astronomical.”
• Outsourcing: There is a strong push to outsource and centralize data center operations due to the high cost of handling them in-house.
• Security is king:  Basic security parameters, such as forcing password changes, used to be a big issue two years ago. This year, CIOs are working to instill a culture of security with the help of law firm leadership. This movement encompasses everything from attorney errors, phishing, hiring of IT security specialists, regular cross-firm technology committee meetings and the push to make security part of every discussion. One CIO contracts with a third party organization that monitors hack sites to see if his firm’s website or operations show up as a compromised.  Also, there is a rise of client requests for security audits. 
• Usage of mobile devices:  Currently, iPads are mostly used by older attorneys to read emails. iPads are not being used by (for example) an associate who is writing a 200-page document. 

 

 

PHI Data Sharing and Secure Collaboration Made Easy

The article in Health Management Technology discusses today's challenges communicating Protected Health Information (PHI) and how Secure File Transfer (SFT) systems are helping healthcare entities secure PHI, accelerate clinical productivity, and drive end-user adoption.

Shortcomings of historical methods are covered along with a primer on what to ask vendors when looking at SFT systems:

1. How simple is the SFT system for end-users and how fast is adoption?
2. Is data in transit and at rest automatically encrypted? Will encryption work seamlessly with your anti-virus software?
3. Are there any file size limitations? Does the solution depend on any Exchange Server file size limitations?
4. Does the application seamlessly tie to your existing information systems, such as Microsoft Outlook, and use Active Directory?
5. Must the app be deployed in the DMZ, or can it be split between network layers?
6. How easy is it for your IT department to audit user activity and files shared?
7. How do you add users outside the hospital walls (practices, payers, HIEs, etc.)?
8. Is the solution exclusively software and easily upgradeable?
9. Are there extra charges for major release upgrades, or are they included in the service agreement?
10. What are the vendor’s mobile strategies and capabilities?

Four customer examples are also included with a summary of benefits achieved.

PHI Data Sharing and Secure Collaboration Made Easy

Keeping Faxes Secure in Healthcare: A Checklist and Case Study

With robust HIPAA, HITECH, and state governmental regulations, meaningful use financial incentives, and accelerated auditing of Protected Health Information (PHI), it’s always smart to ensure the basics are in place to protect the security of faxes containing PHI. The HIPAA Act also establishes guidelines and regulations for faxing PHI data.

Some questions to ask include:

1. Where are sent/received fax documents and who has access to them?
2. How do users easily access and maintain fax # destinations to ensure they go to the right recipients?
3. How do recipients know they have received a fax and senders know their faxes have been received?
4. What’s on the cover page and who sees them?
5. How and where are faxes stored?
6. How do you audit and track fax communications across the enterprise?
7. How to ensure faxes are routed to only the proper locations?
8. Have you looked at computer fax servers or hosted cloud services which are far superior to stand-alone fax machines or MFP systems?
9. When outsourcing cloud fax infrastructure:
   1. Are faxes sent / received to the cloud via multi-hop TLS email methods or the more secure SSL which is point-to-point and encrypted?
   2. Does the fax vendor use Tier1 data centers with robust and scalable redundancy and network security?
10. Have you looked into examples of successful conversions?  For example, St. Anthony’s Medical Center in St. Louis achieved significant benefits in cost, efficiency, accuracy, and compliance by moving to a fax server system with workflow.

Biscom enterprise fax servers and hosted cloud fax offerings are reliable, easy to use, interoperable with health IT systems, and help you achieve compliance with healthcare regulations. Please download our checklist on Keeping Faxes Secure in Healthcare and the St. Anthony’s case study for more detail.

 

 

Click here to download the checklist »
You'll also receive a hospital case study when you register

Also access the hospital case study:

St. Anthony’s Dramatically Improves Physician, Patient and Service Provider Satisfaction with Biscom’s Fax Server and Workflow

eWeek: Cloud Faxing Lives on in Healthcare with FAXCOM Anywhere

eWeek just released a great article describing one of the major trends in faxing today – the move to the cloud. Many folks remember the stand-alone fax machine of the 80s and 90s, thinking fax is an old or aging technology.

The truth is today’s fax is not only ubiquitous as its always been, but mission critical in many segments, especially healthcare. Today’s fax technology is mostly software which is completely interoperable with ERP, network, email, and health IT systems. One of the key developments is the movement of fax from on-premises servers to the cloud through SAAS technology and of hybrid server/cloud fax systems with built in business continuity and redundancy.

In the article, Brian Horowitz does a great job describing how the “new fax” is key to healthcare applications for Barnes Healthcare, a durable medical equipment and pharmacy company in Georgia. For them, outsourcing fax to the cloud relieves them of the burden of telecommunications management and allows them to receive signed documents for legal prescriptions.

Fax is productive, ubiquitous, and just works like it always has. Biscom has thousands of healthcare customers like Barnes Healthcare where we help them serve their patients day in and day out. I hope you enjoy the article.

http://bit.ly/I5G4Uf

Can File sharing be Easy And Secure for Protected Health Information (PHI)?

Health data breach spending is projected to reach $70 Billion by 2015 related to EHR (Electronic Health Record)  systems and mobile technology to meet government compliance standards.  (The Boyd Company)

With recent examples of major data breaches and increased regulatory oversight to secure PHI, healthcare entities are questioning existing methods for file sharing and collaboration. These include common web-based file sharing services that may be unsecure and difficult or impossible to audit by the IT and compliance organizations.

Central to achieving HIPAA compliance and meaningful use qualification is securing PHI data within the enterprise and externally when communicating with partners, suppliers, payers, and providers. The best way to secure PHI data is to encrypt it effectively. This includes PHI data in transport and at rest. Tracking and auditing the file transfer process will also help healthcare organizations through upcoming meaningful use qualifications.

The question is whether complete security can be obtained easily with broad end-user adoption, integration with current systems, and seamless handling of large files. Securing patient information should be as easy as email without any of the hassles.

Thankfully, secure file transfer technology is encrypted, can integrate with existing systems, handles large files with ease, and will provide IT with automatic auditing and reporting across the enterprise. Best of all, user adoption should be immediate.

In the following Network World article, Ellen Messmer discusses how enterprises are beginning to secure PHI data with ease, avoiding the data breach risks that can be introduced by commonly used file-sharing services.

http://www.networkworld.com/news/2012/031512-cloud-file-sharing-257296.html

 

PHI breaches doubled in 2011

According to Redspin consulting, as reported in  infosecurity, the number of patient record breaches has doubled last year.

Redspin cites the increasing concentration of protected health information (PHI) on unencrypted portable devices and the lack of sufficient oversight of PHI disclosed to hospital’s business associates as the main reasons for the increase.

Here at Biscom, we're definitely seeing an uptick in demand for our secure file transfer solution from our healthcare customers - there are serious consequences, both in terms of financial liability as well as reputation that are at stake. NIH, Mass General Hospital, Children's Hospital, Medtronic, and many more healthcare organization trust us to transmit their PHI securely. Contact us if you're facing similar issues - we can help!

Knowing is Half The Battle - A Discussion About Law Firm Security

Video Run Time - 2:26

Law firms face the daily task of protecting themselves and their clients from breaches of confidential data that could lead to noncompliance with government regulations, large fines, damaged reputations, and loss of business. What some firms are not aware of is that the most ordinary tools and practices – from emails to software configurations – can open a legal organization up to breaches.

Biscom is hosting a webinar on the issue of law firm security and the hidden dangers that lurk within firms. Our Legal Practice Director, Charlie Magliato, will be joined by Jeffrey Brandt, Editor of the Pinhawk Law Technology Daily Digest and noted legal technology thought leader. They will discuss the vulnerabilities posed by the proliferation of mobile devices, the consumerization of technology and cloud computing.  In addition, they will also talk about the following which can be helpful to a law firm as they assess their security program:

• High-profile data breaches  - law firms are no longer immune.

• Culture and technology pressures that contribute to increased risks

• The increasing demands of both national and state government regulations

• How  employees, clients and vendors  contribute to data breaches

• Current and emerging security best practices

Webinar Details:

Date: Wednesday, January 25, 2012

Time: 12:00 pm - 1:00 pm EST

Register Now

Happenings in the Fax World

We know it’s been awhile, but it’s been quite an exciting time in the world of fax (believe it or not)! With the growing popularity of faxing over IP (FoIP) and hosted faxing in the cloud, we’ve been working hard to bring you the most flexible enterprise solutions on the market, with a focus on quality, innovation, and direct customer support. After spending loads of time listening to customers old and new, we know it’s important to have choices. From legacy on-premise fax servers to the newest cloud-based solutions, Biscom lets you choose what works best in your enterprise fax environment to achieve your goals, whether they be high-throughput faxing, unparalleled redundancy, DR and business continuity, or simply minimizing costs.

We know the pressure is on IT executives to make choices that save money and consolidate resources. If you’re considering a change in your fax infrastructure, upgrading or moving to fax over IP (FoIP) or the cloud, or simply gathering info for your boss, check out some of this week’s webinars and get your plans rolling for 2012:

Wednesday, December 21 2PM EDT

How to Reduce Costs with Cloud Fax in 2012

Biscom announces new legal clients

Biscom's legal business continues to grow! We are pleased to announce the addition of 5 new legal clients. Our growth is the result of Biscom's laser focus on the legal industry. During the last 2 years Biscom has collaborated with our legal clients to identify and deliver features and enhancements to better meet the secure document needs of law firms and corporate legal departments. Of particular focus for us has been the litigation and practice support groups that have a need for a high performance file and folder upload capability to support production discovery environments. We are also hearing from law firms that are increasingly concerned about the unsanctioned use of hosted file transfer services that increase the firm's exposure to unauthorized access to confidential client data. Our strong encryption and authentication features as well as on-premise deployment are critical to helping our legal clients offer an easy to use, firm sanctioned self service secure file transfer facility to attorneys and administrative staff. And we are not resting on our laurels. Stay tuned for future announcements of product enhancements designed to improve attorney/client collaboration.

BDS in FIPS 140-2 in CMVP certification process

Biscom Delivery Server is now "in process" for FIPS 140-2 certification. FIPS 140-2 (Federal Information Processing Standard) certification is a US Government security standard for accrediting cryptographic modules. The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) defines the cryptography requirements in its FIPS 140-2 publication, and software like BDS must pass the Cryptographic Module Validation Program (CMVP) in order to receive certification. Level 1 is geared towards software solutions, whereas level 2 is required for hardware solutions that have physical security mechanisms.