Remote Work Environments: Much More than a COVID-19 Strategy w/ Jonathan Lieberman

The COVID-19 crisis and the resulting lock-downs across the world forced many organizations to go virtual in an instant. Some of them had sound Business Continuity (BC) and Disaster Recovery (DR) plans in place. And while they were still interrupted, they were able to move quickly and keep their people working. Others were caught off-guard and are now scrambling to make it all work.

 

In an industry like healthcare with reams of sensitive data and the regulations that go with it, this breakneck pace creates a ton of risk for organizations going remote. And the risks are exacerbated when they can’t provision hardware for everyone and they let their staff connect via their own devices.

 

On this episode, we talk with Jonathan Lieberman, CEO and Co-Founder at itopia. He tells us how virtual desktops can be deployed quickly and securely in the cloud, allowing your staff to access critical data and systems from anywhere on any device.

 

This approach has obvious benefits when you’re faced with the type of crisis we’re in right now, but it goes way beyond that. We’re really talking about sound Business Continuity (BC) and Disaster Recovery (DR) strategies. If you, as Jonathan puts it, “treat every employee like a remote worker”, then you’ll be ready for whatever comes next.

 

We cover a lot of strategy, along with the tactics to execute. Key topics include:

• What’s special about remote workers and remote work environments
• On-boarding and decommissioning users in a virtual environment.
• Policies and procedures to ensure security, especially when employees are using their own devices
• Special considerations for remote access to HIPAA-protected information
• Rapidly re-deploying remote desktops infected by ransomware
• Why all of this is really Business Continuity (BC) and Disaster Recovery (DR) planning
• Why you should continue to treat every employee like a remote employee even after the crisis
• Why there’s no way to create a secure desktop in a physical environment
• What we can learn from the COVID-19 crisis about our ability to innovate quickly.
• Why we should never go back to doing things exactly the way we did before.

Full show notes and links: https://thehcbiz.com/remote-work-environments-and-business-continuity/

 

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This episode is sponsored by Formstack.

Formstack is a workplace productivity platform that simplifies healthcare data processes. Healthcare teams can transform piles of paperwork into automated workflows that are easy to administer and 100% HIPAA compliant. From appointment scheduling to insurance verification, Formstack makes it easy to breeze through administrative tasks, reduce security risks, and improve patient care and satisfaction. Learn more and try Formstack here.