Gilmore Blog https://www.gilmoreservices.com/blog/author/jim-beran

Congratulations on closing on your new home!

Many people believe that federal law always trumps state law, but this is not always the case. One such case involvesHIPAA regulations for medical records management.

Keeping your clients’ and employees’ sensitive information away from prying eyes is something every company should stay on top of. Even an inadvertent breach could result in hefty fines. You can protect data in your office, but what happens to that data after you’re done with it?

As a business manager or owner, you want to protect your client's confidential information, so you make the smart move and decide to work with a local shredding service company.  But is that shredding service provider AAA NAID Certified?

If your business shreds documents in-house or does not shred documents at all, you should consider retaining a shredding company to help you prevent your customers’ information from being stolen or hacked from your computers. Shredding documents with an over-the-counter shredder might not create pieces of documents that are small enough, which means they are at risk of being recreated.

Did you know that the Federal Trade Commission ranks Florida as number 2 on the list for highest number of identity theft cases in 2017?  You can see the rankings from 2017 here. 

If information security is not at the top of your list, it should be. You could have to pay large fines should you experience a data breach. While most companies know about securing data, their employees may have some habits that open companies to identity theft and data breaches. Our five recommendations to create a more secure environment for company data include:

Small businesses have been hit hard by the mandatory closures and changes mandated during the COVID-19 pandemic. One way to get relief is to apply for an emergency loan as provided for in the CARES Act.

When you think about shredding personal document, your focus is probably on financial documents. Anything that could potentially compromise your credit or put you at risk of identity theft is an obvious chose for shredding and you’re not likely to overlook it.

Spring is rapidly approaching and for many companies, it’s the ideal time to do some spring cleaning by clearing out and shredding old documents.

One of the most challenging aspects of the COVID-19 pandemic and resulting changes to our working environments has been maintaining HIPAA compliance when treating patients remotely.

Like all of you, we have been following the COVID-19 pandemic news with concern and sadness. This is a difficult time for the entire world, and we must all come together if we hope to come through this challenge.

Are you worried about identity theft? If you’re not, then you should be – at least a little. It’s important to take precautions to protect your personal data from hackers and thieves.

Is your company still using a manual paper shredder? There are many businesses that rely on employees to shred documents instead of partnering with a local shredding service.

Moving is both exciting and stressful. When you’re moving to a new state, there are elements of uncertainty that can complicate the move and raise questions.

The holiday shopping season is here and it’s important to consider security when you pull out your credit card to buy gifts.

HIPAA privacy policies exist to protect patients’ personal health information. The responsibility of complying with HIPAA regulations falls with healthcare providers, insurance companies, and any other organization that collects and stores health records.

Even if your finances and personal affairs are uncomplicated, you still have personal documents that you must retain for legal purposes. But you might not be clear about which documents you need to keep and how long you need to retain them.

Is your business bound by HIPAA, FACTA or Sarbanes-Oxley regulations? If so, then you have a legal responsibility to maintain accurate records and destroy them according to the timetables specified by the law.

Does Your Contingency Plan Include a Disaster Recovery Plan?

Data destruction is in the news frequently – and for good reason! It seems that hardly a month goes by without a new story about a major data breach. In some cases, these breaches are the result of poor security. And in others, the issue is improper destruction of data.

Hurricane season is here. In Florida, those words must be taken seriously. Hurricane preparedness is essential for every business.

Every business in Florida knows the importance of planning for disaster recovery. In recent years, hurricane season has led to significant downtime for local companies. Proper planning is a must.

Do you handle your paper shredding in-house? If you do, you might be wondering if you should be researching paper shredding services as a more secure and efficient alternative. 

Healthcare providers must adhere to HIPAA regulations to protect patients’ healthcare information. Even if you plan on disposing of electronic devices yourself, you must understand HIPAA rules or risk being penalized and fined.

If your company collects and stores medical records, then you know that it’s your legal responsibility to secure those records to protect your patients’ privacy. Likewise, medical record destruction is something that’s mandated by HIPAA.

As a business owner, it’s your job to maintain accurate records and destroy them in accordance with regulations. While it might be tempting to simply buy a shredder and do your shredding in-house, there are some reasons that security experts don’t recommend it.

Adhering to HIPAA regulations is a must for all healthcare providers and for any company that handles protected patient information. That means that your document storage, transportation, and destruction must all be HIPAA compliant.

For many companies, it’s important to conduct their business in a way that’s environmentally responsible. It’s part of the reason that Gilmore Services’ document scanning and electronic storage options are popular. They allow organizations to keep their documentation for as long as necessary without printing items unnecessarily.

Documents are important to every business. Whether you’re storing client contracts, printing invoices, or filing your taxes, you need to maintain accurate records and ensure that you and your employees have what you need to make your company a success.