News | Back up strategy

Recommended LEMR Back up strategy - August, 2011

Do you know where your EMR backup saved? Do you know how often it is saved and what happens if it dies? Do you know if it indeed did back up your EMR? Have you ever tried to restore your EMR backup?

On-Site Backup

This is the fastest and most comprehensive backup available. This process can be automated with minimum maintenance. To do so, we recommends the following:

• Use a Network-attached storage (NAS) external drive. This is an external hard drive with a network port in the back, as oppose to a USB drive. This drive should be place as far away from the server as possible, preferably hidden in a cabinet. That location also needs a network connection.
• We will need to purchase, install and configure the backup software for your office to automate the backup daily.
• You will need to monitor the backup to make sure that it is working.

Archived Medical Data

For legal protection and also to streamline the performance of the system, we recommend that you activate our automated archive system. This process will scan for old documents that are older than 6 months (or any duration that you prefer) and archive them. Everyday, we scan all charts for old documents. Once the list of old documents is sufficient large enough to archive, the system will move those documents to a special folder and marked them as non-updateable. They are still accessible from within the EMR. Here is our recommendation on the archived data:

• The archive process will email you once there are new archive data.
• You should copy the archived data to an external USB disk and move it offsite.
• For the strongest legal protection, you should copy the latest archive data to DVD disk, dated and sealed it. You can mail it to a third party for safe keeping, take it home or put it in a safety deposit box.

Offsite Backup (HIPPA -compliant)

This will protect you in case of catastrophic failures such as fire or theft of equipment. There are services that provide offsite backup for you data. They charge a fee based on the

Our recommendation for offsite backup is as follow:

Sign up with MozyPro. You should start with a server package with 5G storage to start. We will need to install the MozyPro software and configure it to backup the EMR data each night. You have the option to backup additional items such as your email or personal data. The backup task must works within the overnight window, which limits the amount of data that can be back up. You do not want to back up the entire server off-line.

• Mozy will automatically increase your monthly fee when your backup storage exceeds your allowance. You will need to monitor this backup service every few days
• Since you are paying for the storage, it would not make sense to backup archived data, especially if you are already plan to store the archived data offsite as per our recommendation.

Safe & Secure Medical Records Storage

We provide a comprehensive backup consultation and implementation for your peace of mind. For more information, please contact Adrian Calderon-Flores at adrian@liquidemr.com.