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World Backup Day 2022: Why backing up your data is important

Posted March 30, 2022 by Jennifer G

Most of us have gone through losing some sort of data from a computer, mobile phone or tablet. Whether it’s personal, such as pictures, school assignments, or tax files, or business-related data like patient records, x-rays, or accounting files, losing important information unexpectedly can be a nightmare.

World Backup Day

Data backup has your back!

The 31st of March is World Backup Day and serves as a reminder to take measures to prevent data loss. However, a data backup plan is not limited to one day of the year. It is vital to follow a backup strategy throughout the year as a continuous cyber hygiene process.

What is data backup?

Most everyone using a computer either in their practice or at home is likely aware of what a data backup is but it’s worthy of a quick review. A backup is a separate copy of all your important files. Data backup guides you to save a copy in another secure location rather than storing all your data in one device. In case anything happens to your device, your data will stay safe and can be restored easily.

Why should you backup your data?

Data loss is way more common than anyone would think. It usually happens in several forms, such as hard drive failures, cyber-attacks, human errors, or physical theft. The event of data loss urges the need to implement a data backup plan.

Facts and figures about data loss

  • 30% of all computers are already infected with malware1
  • 29% of data loss cases are caused by accident2
  • It is expected that ransomware attacks a business every 11 seconds by the end of 20213

How XLDent helps you protect your practice’s data

When backing up your data, consider the solution that best suits your data protection strategy. Not all solutions are equal! It’s important to consider the method (how and when the backup is done) and the service that accompanies it. XLBackup is a managed and fully automated, online, off-site service making it easy for your organization to restore lost files, images and critical data during a disaster recovery situation. Automated means it is scheduled to run at regular intervals (daily) so a current copy of data is available if needed. XLDent conducts routine audits of the backup with each client to ensure the service is best meeting their needs. The backup service is managed by XLDent’s team of experts who know your dental business. Whether you are using XLDent Practice Management Software or another practice or imaging software, this offsite backup solution is compatible with all.

Resources
1Dataprot, Malware Stat. 2021
2Ponemon Institute, 2013
3https://cybersecurityventures.com/global-ransomware-damage-costs-predicted-to-reach-20-billion-usd-by-2021/

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Your 2021 Backup Audit

Posted March 24, 2021 by Beth

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It is that time of year again! World Backup Day is on Wednesday, March 31 this year. It is a great time to review your backup procedure and disaster recovery plan with a 2021 Backup Audit. The following questions are what you need to know your backup solution is on track for the coming year.

 

1) Is my practice creating a backup?

If you are not sure of the answer, you’ll want to find out as soon as possible. Backups are the only way to protect your practice from catastrophic data loss of all your patient charts and health information. To find out that your practice is not creating a backup of any kind should be a wake-up call to prioritize a new process. 

 

2) How is your backup created?

Practices can create backups in a variety of ways. One might manually run a backup using a software program at regular intervals. They might store those backups both on an external device and offsite to the cloud to create a reliable redundancy. Backups should always be encrypted, and you should also know the process for restoring a backup and test that the process and your backup files both work. 

 

Make a list of your answers to these questions so that you can review your current backup plan for any flaws:

  • Who is in charge of running the backups? 
  • What software program, if any, is running the backups? 
  • Where is it installed? 
  • When and how often do the backups run? 
  • Where does the backup go? 
  • Flash drive, external hard drive, network storage appliance, offsite to the cloud? 
  • Are the backups only on one device, or is there redundancy?
  • Is there a time in which data expires from the backup? 
  • If a file was deleted several months ago, would I be able to restore it from a backup? 
  • Are the backups encrypted? 
  • What is the process for restoring data from the backup?

 

What does the backup include?

Make a list of all your most important programs and where the resulting data is stored. Compare that list to what is included within each backup that you create. You may already back up your practice management database and patient x-rays but overlook data from your accounting software or email. Include anything that you would want to restore to a brand new computer in your backup. 

 

Does your backup work?

The only way to make sure that your backups are reliable is to conduct a periodic audit. An audit should check to see that the backup is complete of all of the data you need to include, that the backup is correct, that the backup file is not corrupt or too large for the external and cloud spaces in which it will be saved, and that your restore process is functional.

 

Could this process be more manageable?

With the help of a trusted solution like XLBackup, your backups are already sorted. From secure encrypted data transmission to an offsite location, daily monitoring to ensure your backups are running without error, annual audits of your backups to restoring your data in a disaster recovery situation, XLDent makes your backups our business. 

 

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End of Year Goals and Your Dental Practice

Posted December 9, 2020 by Beth

XLD_End of Year Banner

 

This year is finally winding to a close, and many dental practices are looking to meet their end of year goals. In 2020 more than most years, dental practices are finding that they have fallen a bit short of where they wanted to be at the beginning of the year. The end of any year can be stressful for every dental practice. If you want to end the year on a higher note, consider this list of ideas for your practice to review before 2021 sneaks up on you.

 

Thank Loyal Patients 

Whether it’s a card in the mail, an email, or just a simple text, letting your patients know you’ve appreciated their business in the past year, it’s just a best practice to reach out to the patients you’ve worked with within 2020. Let them know that they are still in your thoughts, and they’ll keep you at the top of mind, too. 

 

Reschedule Cancelled Appointments

This past year has been the year of canceled appointments. Whether it was due to office closure, local health directives, or personal discretion, there are plenty of patients that missed appointments they’d probably like to fit in yet this year. Rescheduling patients that missed their appointments in March and April could be just the right fix for your end of year shortfall. 

 

Check-In with Inactive Patients

The end of the year is an excellent time to check in with any patients that haven’t been to your office in a while. Reactivating patients that need a visit from within your database of patients can be a much more targeted and cost-effective approach to efficiently filling up your schedule. 

 

Target Patients with Remaining Benefits

Many patients with insurance funds set aside at the end of the year would instead schedule an appointment then lose out on free preventative care. Use XLDent’s reporting feature to create a list of patients with insurance funds remaining in 2020, then alert those patients of any opening you might have in your schedule. 

 

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Introducing XLDent’s New Website!

Posted January 21, 2016 by Dawn

Featuring responsive design and interactive content, XLDent’s brand new website layout is seamless on smartphones, tablets, laptops and desktops of any screen size, making for a customized user experience.

High-Tech Dental Practice Management Software

From dental products and eSolutions to hardware, training and support, our beautiful new website is easy to navigate and is stocked with high-quality content, graphics and images that showcase our dental practice management software. You can also stay up to date on our blog with dental industry topics, company news and tidbits on conferences and events we attend across the country.

We are also excited to announce the recent launch of our official social media channels! With XLDent Facebook, Twitter, GooglePlus, YouTube and LinkedIn accounts, follow us on your favorite platform for fun and educational updates.

While we are thrilled with our online developments, XLDent’s mission to enhance the standard of patient care for improved patient outcomes remains the same. With a focus in the areas of customizable workflow, efficient mobile solutions, patient/doctor experience, increased profitability, seamless integration and training/staff education, our products include:

XLDent also offers a host of eSolutions to improve the efficiency and reliability of dental professionals throughout the country. We invite you to check out our website and be sure to subscribe to our blog to learn how new and established dentists are maximizing profitability with our practice management software!

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