Strength for the Journey, founded in 2019, is a dedicated psychotherapy practice that has played a crucial role in supporting numerous patients through the pandemic and continues to make a significant impact today. Operating primarily with Windows devices, they've adapted to the evolving needs of telehealth services to offer uninterrupted care.
In our conversation with Leslie Sherrod, a successful clinical social worker who ventured into entrepreneurship, we learned about her journey. She is now the Founder and sole IT manager of Strength for the Journey. Leslie opened her practice just before the pandemic. Thanks to remote work, she helped many people remotely during these challenging times, and continues to do so.
Through our conversation with Leslie, we gained insight into the unique challenges the practice faces in managing technology. Leslie shared her experience with Prey, a device tracking solution that has become essential in safeguarding the practice’s digital assets and patient data.
Data Protection Strategy for a Small Business: Prey as an Easy to Use Tool for the Non Tech Savvy
At Strength for the Journey, the dual role of IT manager and Founder is held by a single person. This presents unique challenges in managing their array of Windows devices, as she doesn’t have a technical background. This scenario emphasizes the difficulty of ensuring seamless technology operations to support their crucial psychotherapy services.
"I'm not an IT person; that's not my background. Therefore, it's crucial for me to utilize resources that are user-friendly. It's beneficial when companies offer straightforward and easily accessible services, making my job significantly easier.”
The practice is acutely aware of the critical need for their processes and equipment to comply with stringent privacy laws and HIPAA regulations. Given their reliance on tele-health and various digital tools, safeguarding patient information is paramount. This necessity shapes their approach to selecting and managing technology, ensuring every aspect of their operation is both secure and efficient.
“Adhering to HIPAA’ s (the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act) rules and guidelines is critical to safeguard patient electronic health information. This necessity is partly why we integrated the Prey project into our broader strategy for patient privacy protection. It enables us to track our computers' whereabouts, ensuring immediate action if they were to, unfortunately, fall into the wrong hands."
Solution: An Easy to Use Tool to Complement their Data Protection Plan
Strength for the Journey sought a solution that would seamlessly integrate into their existing framework, ensuring the privacy and security of their patient data without requiring extensive IT expertise. The solution needed to be user-friendly, cost-effective, and robust enough to offer peace of mind regarding device security and data protection.
“It's crucial to protect our devices. It's definitely important, especially in this day and age when you're hearing about breaches and attacks every other week. As a provider, it's essential to ensure that the technology we use is doing everything possible to maintain safety and privacy as well.”
In their search for a robust device tracking solution, Strength for the Journey thoroughly researched various options before choosing Prey. The decision was largely influenced by the software's positive online reviews, which provided assurance about its reliability, user-friendliness, and ability to meet the practice's strict requirements for device security and management.
Prey proved to be the ideal solution for Strength for the Journey's needs.
Features of Prey appreciated by Strength for the Journey include:
- Location Tracking of Devices: This feature allows Strength for the Journey to monitor the whereabouts of their Windows devices, ensuring that all equipment is accounted for. This is crucial for preventing unauthorized access to sensitive patient data and for quick response in case of theft or loss, thereby maintaining compliance with privacy laws
- Data Wipe: Prey’s remote wipe functionality stands out as a potential proactive critical feature, providing the ability to erase patient data from devices that might fall into the wrong hands, ensuring the practice’s resilience against data breaches.
- User-friendly Interface: Prey's intuitive interface is particularly beneficial for Strength for the Journey, given their limited IT expertise. It enables them to efficiently manage their devices without the need for extensive technical knowledge, saving time and reducing the potential for error.
- Responsive Customer Service: Access to prompt and effective customer support from Prey means any issues can be quickly resolved, minimizing downtime and ensuring the psychotherapy practice can continue to offer services without interruption. This support is invaluable for a small practice where IT resources are limited.
- Ease of Installation and Setup: The straightforward process for getting Prey up and running on devices means Strength for the Journey can secure their technology swiftly and without complication. This ease of setup ensures that they can focus on their primary mission of providing care, rather than getting bogged down by complex IT procedures.
The Benefits: Maintaining its Commitment to Patient Confidentiality and Compliance with Privacy Laws
Strength for the Journey has witnessed substantial benefits from incorporating Prey into their IT security measures. This device tracking solution not only offers peace of mind through its accurate location tracking but also ensures that the practice can maintain its commitment to patient confidentiality and compliance with privacy laws.
“Prey has made it easy to not only have the service, but have good, responsive customer service to help problem-solve. If something comes up, there's one less thing I have to worry about.”
The decision to adopt Prey was rooted in a proactive approach to cybersecurity. Understanding the potential risks associated with tele-health and digital documentation, Strength for the Journey recognized the need for a robust mechanism to protect sensitive patient information.
Conclusion
Strength for the Journey's partnership with Prey highlights the crucial role of tech support in healthcare practices. When a tracking glitch threatened to compromise a device—and potentially sensitive patient data—Prey's intuitive service and prompt customer support quickly resolved the issue. This swift action prevented any disruption to the psychotherapy services, emphasizing the value of accessible tech solutions in safeguarding patient information.
“There was a moment when I failed to notice that one of our computers wasn't being tracked or appearing in our system. It took me some time to realize this issue and then to seek help. Considering I'm not technically inclined, I was concerned it might require extensive technical knowledge to resolve. However, when I reached out for customer or technical support (Prey’s), I was pleasantly surprised. The instructions provided were clear and straightforward, leading to some problem-solving that quickly identified and resolved the issue.”
This incident highlights the importance of choosing the right IT tools for healthcare providers, especially those with limited technical staff. Strength for the Journey's successful strategy to mitigate potential security breaches with Prey's demonstrates the importance of reliable, user-friendly technology in the healthcare sector. It ensures the consistent delivery of their services, with the confidence that their operations and patient data are always secure.
