Reopening Your Practice? Here's Your IT Checklist
Practices across the country are reopening for routine care after weeks or months of COVID-19 closures. You're thinking about PPE, patient screening, and scheduling. But your IT systems sat idle too, and they need attention before your first patient arrives.
Before You Open the Doors
1. Update Everything
Your systems haven't been patched during the closure. Windows updates, antivirus definitions, PMS updates, browser updates. Run all pending updates before going live. This may take several hours.
2. Test Your Backups
Backups may have run during the closure, or they may have failed silently. Verify the backup is current and test a restore. If backups stopped during the closure, run a full backup before seeing patients.
3. Check Your Server
If your server was powered off during the closure: power it on, let it fully boot, apply updates, verify services are running, and check disk health. Hard drives that sit idle for extended periods occasionally fail on restart.
4. Disable Temporary Remote Access
If you set up remote access for staff during the closure, review and disable any access that's no longer needed. Change passwords that were used remotely. Verify that no unauthorized remote access points were created.
5. Review User Accounts
Did any staff not return after the closure? Disable their accounts immediately. Review all active accounts and remove any temporary accounts created during the shutdown.
6. Verify Internet and Phone
If your internet or VoIP service was suspended during the closure, confirm it's active and functioning. Test all phone lines. Verify your internet speed is adequate (it may have been downgraded during the closure).
7. Check Imaging Equipment
Power on and test all imaging equipment: X-ray sensors, CBCT, intraoral cameras. Verify they communicate with your imaging software and that images are being stored correctly.
8. Run a PMS Health Check
Open your PMS and verify: schedules are correct, patient records are accessible, billing functions work, and any integrations (e-claims, patient communication) are functioning.
New Normal Considerations
Patient Screening Technology
If you're implementing digital patient screening (COVID questionnaires, temperature logging), ensure the technology is HIPAA-compliant and that screening data is stored appropriately.
Contactless Check-In
Many practices are adopting contactless check-in (online forms, text-based communication). If you're implementing new patient-facing technology, verify it's secure and HIPAA-compliant before deployment.
Ongoing Remote Work
If some staff will continue working remotely (billing, scheduling, insurance), formalize the remote access security: VPN, 2FA, encrypted devices, and a clear remote work policy.
Reopening is exciting and stressful. Don't let an IT failure add to the stress. Take a day before reopening to run through this checklist. Your first week back should be about patients, not troubleshooting technology.