All, I hope you are taking care of yourselves, your families, your staff, and your patients as we all navigate through the coronavirus pandemic. My highest priority is to encourage your personal and professional wellbeing. That said, I also want to personally thank the numerous individuals who recently reached out to me or my staff with questions and concerns as we learn to navigate these unprecedented times. As a result, I have compiled a structured outline to update and guide you towards making the best operational and technological decisions.

To begin, remote access has been the most frequent inquiry we have received. It is not a great idea to give this [remote access] to everyone in your office. This reasoning is not only from a security standpoint, but a logistical standpoint as well. When utilizing remote access, I encourage you to ensure a developed and wellcommunicated plan is in place. This will enable your staff to sense of their roles, allocate sufficient time to complete tasks, and understand potential next steps. PerCSoft recognizes this is a wide-ranging topic, so I encourage you to reach out to us directly if you need additional assistance or have unresolved questions.

In continuation, managing your work remotely can be stressful. To promote efficiency, I gathered some best practices- included below- that I encourage you to read, implement, and circulate to anyone who might find them useful:

1. Avoid Multitasking: Mixing business activities with personal responsibilities is a recipe for security and scheduling disasters. Ensure that your free time is separate from your business, especially if you or your children are using the same PC or web browser for activities such as remote learning, web browsing, or social media.

2. Close Your Screen: Repeatedly logging in and out may be an annoyance while working remotely, but you may find it easy to get distracted. Prioritizing your data and avoiding error is achievable by logging off when you step away from your desktop for extended periods of time, or by closing your access.

3. Establish a Schedule: Dedicating time to your work and consistently logging in/out will create structure- which benefits both you and your patients.

4. Watch for Spam: In times like these, opportunists will try to take advantage of stressful situations. Be mindful and extremely careful when accessing emails, browsing the internet, utilizing different devices, and when taking phone calls. Do not allow anyone to access your workstations!

With remote access brings questions regarding your workplace PC’s. When considering whether to leave your computers on or off, that is up to you. Regardless of your decision, I recommend that you return to the office the day prior to seeing patients to restart them and check for updates or issues. Under no circumstances, though should you turn off the servers and any PC you are remotely accessing from home.

In terms of expensive equipment- such as pan or cbct- you should unplug such technology from the wall if possible. With the likelihood of extended time away from your practice and with spring severe weather silently approaching, it is better to be safe than to be sorry.

We have also received many questions regarding cameras and security systems. Before you leave, I encourage you to test that you can access these systems and change any alert settings as needed. This is a great time to remind you that most camera systems are limited to record approximately 2-3 weeks’ worth of time, so please be aware when considering your options. Similarly, we have recently installed new systems for people who do not currently possess them. If you need one please reach out. These arrive within a few days, but rest assured we can set these up quickly.

Another best practice to conduct is forwarding your phones while you are away. This will allow patients to reach a live person without having to leave a message and for them to await your returned call. However, I ask that you verify the following: (A) Some plans forward temporarily and the phone company reverts this after 2-3 days, so make sure this is not the case for your phones. (B) Confirm that the person you are forwarding to alters their voicemail to something appropriate and that they stay on top of the messages because most cell phones max out at 20 or so voicemails. (C) Establish a plan for the duration of coverage and make sure you know your phone account number as well as security code should you require assistance from your provider to change that forwarding while away.

When considering the status of your fax machines, you should fill these with paper. Crucial items, like payments, may arrive via fax. Fax memory is typically small and you could save yourself from later headaches if you miss critical information or payments.

With COVID-19 leading us into uncharted waters, take advantage of your time. I recognize that many of you do not want to take on extra expenses, so I have included a list of low-cost and/or free steps that I invite you to take while your offices are not seeing patients.

If you find yourself struggling, PerCSoft is here to help you with the following:

1. Add or update passwords in your practice management software and PC’s. This should be completed at least yearly and this environment provides a good time to take care of that task.

2. Update HIPAA Binders, BAA’s, and review your patient forms. 3

3. Run those reports you struggle to find time to review, like itemized production, fees, etc.

4. Investigate cost-saving items such as your contracts for Spectrum, AT&T, credit card processing, claims processing, statements, confirmations, or your leases to name a few.

5. Update and evolve your internet profiles like Google, Yelp, Facebook, etc.

6. Use us to update your practice management or imaging software to current versions.

In conclusion, please keep yourself, your staff, and your patients safe during this time of substantial uncertainty. As always, please reach out to us at PerCSoft if you require any help, advice, or ideas during this time. It is our mission to do whatever we can to enable our customers to utilize technology to help- no matter the situation.

We are all in this together, and we will persevere.