Before we begin, you should always work with your IT resource to make sure that any tips we suggest will work for you.

Eliminating Bloatware
While you’re going about your business, you might notice that you’ve picked up a couple pieces of software that weren’t there before. Or, perhaps you’ve noticed some on your computer that have been there for a long time, but you’re not sure how long. In this case, it’s possible that you have acquired “bloatware” or “adware.” While these programs aren’t necessarily harmful, they can eat up system resources and create slowdown. IT should be able to identify these programs and wipe them from your infrastructure, considerably boosting computing speeds.

Adjust the Power Settings
Windows 10 comes with a built-in power saving setting, but it’s not necessarily the answer you’re looking for. This setting cuts your device’s processes to a minimum to conserve energy, which makes more resource-intensive tasks more difficult. Since most desktops are plugged into the wall anyway, the chance to use the power saving function isn’t really there. To improve the way Windows 10 works on your laptop, just stick to the “Balanced” power option when unplugged, then switch to “High” when power is available.

Kill Windows Tips and Tricks
We know it’s a little odd to recommend disabling Windows Tips and Tricks, but there are several good reasons to do so. The most important one is that Windows is referencing your usage for these capabilities, meaning that your device’s performance could suffer. You can disable this by clicking the Start button > Settings > System > Notifications & actions. Under this, you want to select Get tips, tricks, and suggestions as you use Windows. You want to deactivate this option.

Restart Your Device
You should always restart your device before assuming that anything is ever wrong with it. When you restart your device, you are wiping unneeded memory usage and stopping unnecessary background processes. Restarting your device gives you the chance to start the day with a blank slate.

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Optimizing EHR

As noted above, electronic health record technology has been made a priority for healthcare providers for the better part of a decade. By optimizing their EHR system, practices can solve many of the operational shortcomings they are typically falling for. They are able to improve workflows, provide an improved quality of care, improve intelligence of the practice, see more patients, stay compliant with state and federal mandates, and see a substantial increase in their ability to get reimbursed.

VR and AR

Virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) are gaining more commercial traction by the day. In the medical industry, the innovations of these technologies hold an extremely important place in what will be the healthcare practice of the future. By being able to successfully simulate (or more accurately emulate) care delivery, they are important platforms for training and understanding the complex systems that make up the human body. By building software that provides visual representation of intricate systems health providers will be able to train staff by emulating a procedure before they undertake it.

AI Growth

Most industries are trying to find ways to use artificial intelligence more effectively, and healthcare is no different. There are several manners in which doctors, administrators, and medical staff are leveraging the burgeoning technology. From systems that can help healthcare providers communicate with patients with severe neurological diseases or trauma, to monitoring growing antibiotic resistance in patients, to using data analysis to monitor and predict when a person is going to have medical problems, AI is on the cusp of many major breakthroughs in the medical sector.

Expansion of Virtual Care

Virtual care is the act of providing one-on-one health consultation over the Internet. This practice is expanding quickly. In fact, 96 percent of health systems, or almost the entire market, plans to expand their virtual care systems in 2019. Virtual care, also known as telehealth, is the delivery of health-related services and information over the Internet or other communications platform; and, it has shown to dramatically improve patient health and understanding of the health services they undertake.

Virtual care expands a patient’s care from the doctor’s office to the home, offering many different manners in which to communicate, solutions to remotely monitor health, a cost reduction in care provision, and more. By providing outreach and virtual care services, a healthcare provider utilizes the strongest technology available to deliver healthcare services to people all over the world.

The healthcare industry is utilizing IT more than ever to connect with their patients, vendors, and other industry professionals. If you would like more information about IT for healthcare, or how your practice could upgrade its use of information technology, reach out to our IT professionals today at 877-874-4629.

What Are Biometrics?

Biometrics are a form of authentication that, instead of using a password or key code, leverage some physical attribute or qualifier. These could include fingerprints, voice patterns, and even the rhythm that a person uses to type. Not only are they easier for a user to leverage, they can be compounded, enhancing security as well as supporting many other business practices.

Let’s dive further into the kinds of biometrics that can be leveraged by a business (although not all of them are practical to do so as of yet).

Biometric Types

There are two primary types of identifiers that any biometrics rely on, physical identifiers and behavioral identifiers. Physical identifiers, as listed below, are far more commonly seen today:

• Signatures - Chances are, you’ve seen this variety of biometrics a great number of times in your personal and business life. This signature serves as a confirmation that the person fulfilling an action--be it a transaction or an agreement--is authorized to do so. From retail outlets to financial institutions, this biometric technology is very common in day-to-day life.
• Fingerprints and Physiological Attributes - This is another common form of authentication, as it is likely you use it to unlock your smartphone. Scanning someone’s fingerprint as a means of confirming their identity has been used for quite some time and has been adopted by many companies and individuals. Physiological recognition is also commonly used, as evidenced by palm scanners, retinal scanning, and facial recognition.
• Voice - Voice-based authentication is also increasingly common in all walks of life, personal users commanding their virtual assistants and businesses utilizing voice authentication to enable their automated answering systems.
• DNA - While the technology still has a ways to go, there is some promise of DNA sequencing transitioning from a cinematic feature to a practically-used solution.

There are also behavioral identifiers that newer forms of biometric authentication are able to pick up on. These methods are largely still in development.

• Typing Patterns - Understandably, just like people write differently, they type differently as well. Therefore, by measuring how quickly a user types, the pressure they apply to the keys, and even the time it takes to move between keys, a user’s identity can be confirmed.
• Navigation and Engagement - Expanding on the basis of typing pattern analysis, our use of technology is distinctive enough from person to person that other behaviors are indicative of our identity. Therefore, everything from our mouse movements to how we actually hold and use a device can be used as a secondary authentication measure now, and potentially be a standalone security measure someday.

Reliability (and Risks) of Biometrics

As it currently stands, biometric authentication is a problematic technology, simply because the ‘key’--the user--can be inconsistent. Voices can sound different for a variety of reasons, and fashion choices can easily change one’s appearance enough to frustrate a biometric system. Imagine not being able to access the office because you experimented with a new haircut or picked up a fashionable new pair of spectacles! However, this doesn’t mean that there aren’t ways to cheat these systems. Photos can be effective, as can recordings of one’s voice.

This is why most experts suggest that, if biometric authentication is to be used, multiple factors are taken into account.

Security is a Major Concern

Of course, this kind of data will also need to be heavily protected for the sake of the user’s privacy. Furthermore, it isn’t as though these are the kinds of credentials that can be easily changed. For these reasons alone, it will likely be quite a while before biometrics truly become the norm.

One thing is for sure, you need to ensure that your business’ data is secure. Patriot Tech Services Inc. has the solutions that can help. Give us a call at 877-874-4629 for more information.