Posted by Stephanie Jones on Wed, Jul 28, 2010 @ 07:55 AM
Do you know how much file cabinets cost? I spend a lot of time writing about why people should go paperless with eBridge Solutions' web-based document management. I often cite eliminating file cabinets as a reason. But, I was recently looking for some metal file cabinets for a video we're working on and got a big surprise: file cabinets are expensive!
Online, I found file cabinets that cost anywhere from $100 to $500 (and that doesn't include shipping). Then, I thought I would be able to find cheap ones at the used furniture store, but even there file cabinets were $40 or $50.
What I want to know is WHY? Why are businesses continuing to store their important documents in heavy metal boxes? Don't they know that putting files in file cabinets does not mean they are stored permanently? Nor does it mean those records are secure. (Who can't pick a lock these days with all of those CSI-type shows?)
eBridge Solutions' document management customers have all but done away with file cabinets. In fact, one of our favorite insurance customers, George Dakkak, was able to donate 15 cabinets to his local church after his staff finished scanning in all of his old customer files.
If you are getting ready to buy a file cabinet, stop. Instead, buy a document management system like eBridge. Scan the files you were going to store and then you can shred that paperwork. Documents scanned into eBridge Solutions are given a date and time stamp that allow them to be considered legal originals.
If you want to find out other ways document management systems can save you money, sign up for one of eBridge's online webinars.
Posted by Stephanie Jones on Mon, May 10, 2010 @ 01:34 PM
Lately, we've been getting a lot of interesting calls at eBridge Solutions from prospective and current clients who are in transition. They may be selling or closing a business. Or, they may be starting a new venture or taking over an existing business or branch office. Either way, document management - especially eBridge's web-based version - is the perfect solution for workers in transition.
Selling/Closing A Business: In most industries there are record-keeping requirements. In a physician's office, for example, patient records should be kept for 10 years after the patient was last seen. But, what happens when a physician wants to sell his (or her) practice and/or retire? If he has file cabinets or off-site storage filled with patient records, are they his responsibility or someone else's?
A provider is bound by applicable federal and state laws and regulations after closure, as well as during its operation. Many state health departments and licensing authorities govern health care facility closures and may outline to whom records should be transferred. In some states, a state archive or health department will store health records from closed facilities. More commonly, state regulations recommend records be transferred to another health care provider.
If the physician selling or closing the practice began digitizing documents and storing them in eBridge Solutions' web-based document management system BEFORE the transition, both parties would be happier. The transfer of data would be as easy as handing over a CD or DVD (or several, depending on how long the practice had been open) to another health care provider or local health department. Or, the physician could simply transfer ownership of his eBridge electronic file cabinet. It would be that easy.
Starting A New Business: If someone is starting a business from scratch, that is the BEST time to get into document management. It's easier to start scanning documents from day one than to go back and handle years worth of files. When new paper comes into the office, scan it and then shred it. You won't even need file cabinets.
Taking Over An Existing Business: If you are taking over a branch or business that has a document management system, I would definitely recommend leaving it in place. Then, once you've learned it, use it on all of the new paperwork coming into your EXISTING business.
In today's economy, transition is inevitable. With a web-based document management system like eBridge Solutions, new and old businesses alike can benefit from powerful online archiving capabilities -- reducing liability along with storage space needs. Try it today at www.eBridgeSolutions.com.
Posted by Stephanie Jones on Wed, May 05, 2010 @ 07:41 AM
The Grand Ole Opry House in Nashville, Tennessee was one of the businesses hardest hit during the recent flooding.
"What I understand is that as of yesterday one of my friends floated through the Opry House in a canoe and there was 4 feet of water on the stage at that time," one employee said. "The dressing rooms are a total loss."
It has yet to be determined if the Grand Ole Opry Museum, the Acuff instrument collection and the archives were lost. If those things were destroyed, it would be "a profound American loss."
"I would say you lost photographs," another employee said. "I would say you lost film. I would say you lost audio and the costumes, instruments, manuscripts, boots. You know, just everything that goes along with the Opry and Opry stars."
While the dressing rooms and instruments couldn't have been protected with eBridge Solutions' web-based document management, the photos, old sheet music and archived programs could have been. Anything paper could have been scanned and archived -- even just as a back-up. Now, there is fear that nothing is left at the Opry House except water-soaked paper and damaged hardwood.
I've been at the Opry House and the Gaylord Palms Hotel steps away. If the first floors of those two large buildings were mostly underwater, the majority of the businesses' corporate and HR documents are likely gone as well. Imagine your business? How many days, weeks, months, years would it take for you to be back up and running if you lost all of your file cabinets? Or even your computer if your hard drive was under your desk?
Today is the day to start protecting your documents. Scan the most important ones first, if that makes things easier. And say a little prayer for the people of Nashville...
Posted by Aubree Spiering on Tue, May 04, 2010 @ 02:48 PM
If you are looking into web-based document management agencies, but are concerned about putting your most important and confidential documents in the cloud, we wanted to remind you of one thing: Our top priority at eBridge Solutions is SECURITY.
It's for this very reason that companies like Allstate Insurance (they approved us in August, 2006) and thousands of other private, public and government businesses and agencies have put their trust in eBridge over the nine years we have been in business.
Throughout those years we have continued to raise our standards in security measurements to meet the tough compliance demands of our clients. eBridge Solutions is certified to be in compliance with such regulations as the Health Insurance Portability & Accountability Act (HIPPA), Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act (GLBA), Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX), Federal Information Processing Standardization (FIPS) and the Government Information Security Reform Act (GISRA).
To ensure your data being transferred via the eBridge cloud is safe, Secure-Socket Layer (SSL) v3(TLS) - the industry standard security protocol for encoding sensitive information - has been implemented by eBridge for mutual authentication, data encryption and data integrity. Your data stored in eBridge is AES-256 Block CBC encrypted, meaning only you and your clients have access to those files (if you give them access).
Your data is also backed up in real-time in separate data centers in Tampa, FL and Atlanta, GA. Both data centers house redundant web and database servers - fully configured with all software and data - so that in the unlikely event of a failure of any of the data centers, the backup data center will be available. Other security measurements include off-site data backups, access and event monitoring, passwords and physical security that is monitored 24 hours a day.
If that wasn't enough to convince you that your documents are safe with eBridge, contact one of our sales representatives who can elaborate on each security measurement. Visit our web site to register for a free online demo of eBridge Solutions.
Posted by Stephanie Jones on Thu, Apr 29, 2010 @ 01:53 PM
HEALTH DATA MANAGEMENT - BREAKING NEWS: A former researcher at the UCLA School of Medicine has been sentenced to four months in federal prison for violations of the HIPAA privacy rule. If the UCLA School of Medicine had been using eBridge Solutions' web-based document management system, this could have been prevented. Here's what happened:
Huping Zhou, a cardiothoracic surgeon in China before immigrating to the United States, was employed at UCLA in 2003. On Oct. 23, 2003, he received a notice of intent to dismiss him for performance reasons that did not include illegal access of medical records. That evening, he accessed medical records of his superior and co-workers, and during three other periods during the next four weeks accessed UCLA patient records, many of them involving celebrities, a total of 323 times, according to the FBI office in Los Angeles.
Charges were filed in 2009 and Zhou pleaded guilty in January 2010 to four misdemeanor counts of illegally reading private and confidential medical records. He faced up to four years in prison.
A FBI spokesperson did not have information on why Zhou was able to frequently access medical records after being terminated in 2003 and why charges were not filed until six years later. There is no evidence Zhou improperly used or attempted to sell the information he accessed, according to the FBI.
A UCLA School of Medicine attorney was not immediately available to comment on the lag in discovering the breaches and filing charges. The school released the following statement:
"The UCLA Health System cooperated fully with the U.S. Attorney's office in its ongoing investigation of violations of the Health Information Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), including with its prosecution of former UCLA employee, Huping Zhou. Mr. Zhou's employment at UCLA was terminated in November 2003.
"After a subsequent internal investigation revealed that he had inappropriately accessed patient files, UCLA provided the U.S. Attorney's office with all relevant information regarding Mr. Zhou.
"During the past two years the UCLA Health System has put in place a number of safeguards to help ensure patient confidentiality including:
- Expanded the auditing capabilities of our information systems and more than doubled the number of individuals who we proactively audit to ensure their privacy is maintained.
- Evaluated and enhanced our clinical information systems to reduce the risk of information security violations.
- Implemented a mandatory and expanded HIPAA training and certification module required for all physicians, staff and students.
"The UCLA Health System is committed to seeking ways to improve and enhance our policies, procedures and infrastructure to ensure the confidentiality of our patients' medical records."
If UCLA had been using eBridge Solutions' web-based document management system, they could have INSTANTLY deleted Zhou's access to their data. In addition, a routine audit of documents would have shown that he continued to access records AFTER he was let go. While Zhou is the one serving time, rest assured that UCLA Health System will have hefty fines to pay when this is over.
Make sure YOUR company isn't next. Sign up for eBridge's SUPER SECURE document management system today!
-- main article written by Joseph Goedert
Posted by Aubree Spiering on Mon, Apr 26, 2010 @ 01:28 PM
eBridge Solutions' web-based document management system is the most efficient way to share documents with your customers. Reason #8 to love eBridge Solutions: Let your customers scan documents into your electronic file cabinet and eliminate couriers.
By putting your trust in eBridge, you know your important documents are in safe hands. Your customer scans in their documents that you can then pull up in your own secure electronic file cabinet. This ensures your documents won't end up in the wrong hands, they won't get lost in the mail or accidently taken from the fax machine.
Even waiting just 24 hours for an important document to be delivered can feel like an eternity, by scanning your documents directly into eBridge you no longer have that down time waiting for the courier, overnight delivery service or snail mail. Once a client scans their document into their file cabinet,
it will be available to you in mere seconds.
On top of all of that, eliminating couriers with document management will save you hundreds, if not THOUSANDS, of dollars a year. For one low monthly fee with eBridge Solutions you will reduce the amount of paper products you buy, virtually eliminate all postage, photocopies, fax machine and off-site storage.
It doesn't get much better than that. Visit eBridgeSolutions.com for more information and contact a sales representative today. Say 'Bye Bye!' to your courier and 'Hello!' to savings!
Posted by Stephanie Jones on Thu, Apr 08, 2010 @ 11:46 AM
There is a right way and a wrong way to manage your confidential records. Let's start with the wrong way.
The wrong way is to keep files with social security numbers and credit card information in an unlocked file cabinet. Or in the dumpster behind your office, like these folks from the city of Middletown, Ohio. Read how citizen's confidential information ended up in the wrong place by clicking here.
eBridge is working in many government offices across the nation. The RIGHT way to manage documents like the ones in the article would be to scan them into an online file cabinet and then hire a shredding company to come ON-SITE and shred those documents IN FRONT of someone.
Our web-based document management system is much more secure than a traditional file cabinet. User IDs and passwords are required, so only certain people have access to certain documents. In addition, if information was compromised, our audit trail would tell you exactly who, what and when. A metal cabinet can't do that!
So again, there is a right way and a wrong way to manage files. eBridge is the right way. If you aren't already using eBridge Solutions, call or sign up for an online demo today!