Traffic at EMR and HIPAA usually slows down on the weekend and so I try to keep my weekend posts just a little bit lighter than the rest of the week. Often that means I talk about some technical thing since at the end of the day I’m just a techguy.

Don’t worry though, I’m not planning on getting really technical here. There are plenty of technical blogs out there for that discussion.

Instead I just want to highlight what might be the most important thing you set up when implementing an EMR: your EMR backup. However, the problem with backing up your EMR is that it’s not like something you buy on TV where you simply “set it and forget it.” Well, I guess you can, but you do so at great risk.

Do you know how often your EMR backs up?
Where is your EMR backup saved and what happens if that place dies?
Do you know that it indeed did back up your EMR?
Have you ever tried to restore your EMR backup?
Is there space for your EMR backup? Will there be space as your EMR backup grows?

I could keep going for a while, but that should get you started down the path to ensuring that not only your EMR is backing up, but that you’ll be able to restore your EMR if the need ever arises. Any IT person worth their salt knows that a backup is only good if you are able to restore it. Unfortunately, the only way to know if you’ll be able to restore it is to do it.

I’ll save the discussion of disaster recovery for another time. However, becoming familiar with your EMR backup is one of the best investments you can make in your practice. In fact, the future of your practice might just be riding on it.