November 6, 2020
1

Password Security & Using Unique Passwords

By | Announcement, How it Works

We all know how important it is to avoid reusing the same password across different sites. Easier said than done! Fortunately, Chrome has improved password protections that can identify passwords that have been compromised. Read on to learn more, as well as our best tips for using strong, unique passwords that you’ll actually remember!

Chrome’s New Data Breach Warning

If you use Chrome, you may have recently seen this warning: A data breach on a site or app exposed your password.

Sounds alarming! And for good reason. It means your password was compromised in a data breach on some external site or application. That is, someone has gained access to your password, which they could use to login to any website where that password is used. Any compromised passwords should be changed as soon as possible.

How are passwords compromised? There are, unfortunately, many different ways that your password can be exposed – hacking, phishing, insecure networks, and malware, just to name a few. Google has been collecting data from publicly-known hacking events, and uses this to generate a warning when you type in a compromised password. Read more about how this works in this post on the Google Security Blog.

This warning does NOT indicate any breach of Cerbo’s systems.

But if you see it for the EHR or Patient Portal, it does mean that same password, as used on some other site, was compromised and should be changed immediately.

Practical Tips

It is very important that you use a strong and unique password for the EHR and Patient Portal. But, by nature, that can make it hard to remember. And you do not want to physically write down your passwords, unless you’re also locking that info away. So what should you do?

  1. Use a secure password keeper program. One that we like and most often use at Cerbo is LastPass, but there are many others available. When choosing, make sure it is well-rated for security, of course, and that it works in your preferred web browser. That way, you can install your password keeper program on any device to be able to access your passwords. You can use your selected program to generate strong passwords, as well as remember and autofill your passwords.
  2. Set an extra-strong password for your password keeper program. But make sure it’s also something you’ll remember! One trick is to pick the line from a favorite book or poem, and use the first letter of each word to construct your password – substituting numbers and special characters for some of the letters. So, for example, “‘Hope’ is the thing with feathers That perches in the soul.” Might become H’1ttwfTp1t5. It becomes easier to memorize when you can remind yourself with the original quote.
  3. Make sure to log out of your password keeper program when leaving a computer unattended, or when finished using a shared device.
  4. Use 2-factor authentication for logging into the EHR. You can set this up by hovering over your initials in the top menu, and selecting “Two-Factor Authentication.”

Many security experts no longer recommend changing passwords regularly. That is because users who change their passwords frequently may end up taking shortcuts that make passwords weaker and more hackable. And it makes keeping track of your passwords harder. Instead, you should always use strong and unique passwords, and change them only if they have been compromised.

March 19, 2020
7

Tips for Telehealth Visits

By | Feature, How it Works, New in Cerbo

If you weren’t already doing video visits, you probably are now! Or thinking about it. And we have good news! You can now do telehealth visits directly inside your Cerbo EHR using our native video platform. It’s technically in an “open beta phase,” but we’re enabling it by request.

Read on for tips and tricks for success with your video visits.

1. Set up default email notification and reminder text for your Video Visit appointment types. In that text, you may want to instruct the patient to enable their audio and camera before joining the call. You can also let them know there is nothing to download to join the call – just click the link! The meeting link and call in info is automatically included in the notice/ reminder if you check the box “Is telemedicine?” when adding the appointment.

2. Test out your own video and audio settings ahead of time. Do a test call with a staff member or friend to make sure your computer’s camera, microphone, and speakers are working as expected. You do not need any special equipment to do video calls, but a headset may be helpful to get the best audio quality.

3. Use the Cerbo schedule to add your telemedicine appointments and share connection information with the patient! You can always start an impromptu (unscheduled) call and share connection information on the fly. But using scheduling in Cerbo means being able to send connection info ahead of time to patients, and more easily seeing on your end what you have upcoming as well as past calls.

4. You may want to have patients sign a consent form that is specific to video visits. If you don’t have one, we have a stock consent that we can post for you. But be sure to check your local laws and regulations to make sure your consent covers the necessary bases!

5. Tile the video with the encounter note to ease charting. Before you join the video call, go to the patient’s chart and open your encounter note. Then start the call from the My Links menu, and select the option to open it inline/ in the encounter note. Remember, you can still access all parts of the patient’s chart in the encounter view! Just double click on a block’s colored header bar to expand it.

Good luck! And please let us know your questions, feedback, or what you wish you had known!

 

 

 

 

March 16, 2020
9

EHR Resources/ Info for COVID-19

By | Announcement, How it Works

We’re all adjusting day-by-day to the unique challenges created by the COVID-19 pandemic. Above all, we hope that you’re staying healthy and able to find calm in this stressful time! Read on for tools/ information that we hope will be useful for your clinic during this crisis.

Telemedicine

We’ve expedited the roll out of our new native telemedicine module to help clinics go virtual. It’s completely web-based, so there is nothing to download for you or the patient. And it’s fully integrated into appointment scheduling and reminders in Cerbo. More information: 

Email us to turn this on for you!

Mass Communication with Patients

You may want to send out mass emails and/ or post notices about changes or important news during the outbreak. While you cannot send a mass email directly from Cerbo, you can use an integrated Active Campaign account. Or export a list of emails to use in the mass emailing program of your choice.

To send a mass email (other than via the Active Campaign integration), you would first generate your list of patient emails. Then you can upload or copy/ paste that list into your preferred mass emailing program. Do not send mass emails from your regular email account! This can cause your account to be flagged as a spam account. Plus, you run the risk of disclosing patient email addresses to one another.

You can also easily post a notice on the Patient Portal. You can set it to show on all pages, or just specific pages. And you can update this notice at any time.

COVID-19 Lab Testing

The new COVID-19 tests for Quest, LabCorp, and BioReference are available in your orderable labs database! If you already have an electronic integration with the lab, you can add the order and transmit it via the applicable ordering interface. Or you can use the built in printable/ faxable/ saveable lab requisition form.

To help find the correct order code, you may want to search by using “Corona” or “Covid” with the lab name, for example: “Covid Quest.”

Cerbo Support

Like many, we have transitioned to work-from-home. And, inevitably, staff schedules are impacted by the crisis – mainly due to kids out of school and home office logistics. We are committed to keeping our staff and our community safe. So we are extending unlimited sick time through the crisis for staff members who are ill or taking care of sick family members.

We are also committed to continuing to provide you with the support that you need in your day-to-day. While we remain available by email and phone, please use email where possible. This helps us to triage and respond most efficiently when so many of us are working remotely.

We know that you may be taking a slower period in the clinic to revisit EHR settings. Please be aware that during this particularly hectic time, “wish list” or general configuration requests to us at Cerbo may be delayed. And, as always, please make sure any requests are complete and finalized before reaching out to us.

If you are on Facebook, consider joining the Cerbo User’s Facebook Group. This is a forum for users to share ideas, workflows, and information. Many of you are wrestling with similar questions about how to adapt and adjust in the face of this crisis, and the user group can be a helpful resource.

Finally, while we are anticipating a slow down in our own business as a result of this crisis, we are well-positioned to weather the storm. We do not anticipate any danger to our operations or disruption to our services.

We’re thinking of all of you during this crisis and are wishing you well. If you need help from us, let us know! We’re all in this together.

December 19, 2019
12

Our Development Wish List

By | How it Works, New in Cerbo

Our clients have great ideas about software improvements and additions. And we love turning your ideas into new features and functionality in Cerbo! So, what happens when you send us a feature request or suggestion and we say that we’re adding it to our “wish list?” It may sound awfully nebulous, but we take our wish list seriously.

Before we get to that point, we’ve typically already taken some key steps. First, we’ve generally asked about your use case so we can see if there is solution already available. Sometimes Cerbo handles it, just in a different way than expected. That’s why it can be helpful to focus the request most on what you’re trying to accomplish, without getting into the weeds of how you want the EHR to do it.

Next, we look for a quick fix or simple workaround. How can we get you closest to what you need using available tools?

Finally, we evaluate adding the request to our development wish list. And that requires a quick balancing analysis. How big is the impact for your clinic? How big is the anticipated impact and demand across all our clients? What is the development cost? Any trade-offs in terms of increased complexity or otherwise?

If we see a net improvement, with benefits for a number of clinics, we’ll add it to the wish list. We’ll also make a note of your specific interest. Due to the volume of requests that we receive, we generally can’t provide progress updates on wish list items. But we may reach out to specific interested clients to be beta testers as their requests reach that phase.

Wondering what we’ve been up to lately? Check out our Update Log.

December 6, 2019
5

Manage your Own Encounter Note Types

By | Feature, New in Cerbo

You now have the ability to add/ edit/ delete/ reorganize your own encounter note categories. Check it out under Admin > Manage > Encounter Note Types.

Notably, you can now set specific encounter types to NOT share a visit summary on the Patient Portal when the note is signed. So if you sometimes use encounter notes for internal or administrative notes, you can set those not to to be shared. Admittedly, this functionality isn’t exactly new, but it previously had to be set by us at Cerbo. Now you can join in the fun too!

You can also set the encounter type ordering in the drop down selector menu. And set the icons for your different encounter note types. Do you notice particular gaps in the icon selection? Send us a note with encounter type icon ideas you’d like to see included in a future release!

December 5, 2019
0

Advanced Patient Search – more advanced than ever!

By | Design Update, Feature, New in Cerbo, Uncategorized

Meet the recently-overhauled Advanced Patient Search! Your favorite patient-reporting tool is now ultra-powerful, with new and updated filters and a colorful new look.

As always, you can use the Advanced Patient Search to generate patient lists based on demographic information, date filters, and specific information in their charts. So you can:

  • Generate a patient mailing list or list for an email blast
  • Use your custom critatia to see which patients to contact about scheduling an appointment
  • Create patient lists by status, tag, or other criteria
  • See which patients may have received a medication or supplement that was subject to a recall
  • And much, much more!

The overhaul brings more - and more powerful - filters and search criteria. Try it out and see what you think!

Adv-pt-search
November 22, 2019
5

Reporting Improvements and New Menu Item Names

By | New in Cerbo, Product Update, Uncategorized

Billing/ Reporting Reorganization

We’re excited about a long-overdue reorganization of the Billing/ Reporting section of Cerbo! The reports themselves haven’t changed much, although there are improvements. But we reworked the organization and presentation of the reporting section. Hopefully it will make your lives – and the lives of your bookkeepers – easier!

We reorganized the Financial Reports to highlight the most commonly used reports, group similar reports together, and de-prioritize “retired” reports (which remain available). We also overhauled the descriptions of each report, and in some cases renamed reports, to more clearly reflect their contents and use. Finally, we renamed the “Search by Patient” tab to “A/R & Pt Balances.”

Non-Financial Reports moved into their own tab, and now include reports that were previously found in various different spots in the system.

Small but Mighty Menu Improvements

With the increased prominence of the non-financial reports, we needed a new name for the main Billing menu. So, we changed it to “Reporting.” Then, to avoid confusion with the existing “Reports” menu, we changed that to “Generate.”

Why “Generate?” The menu formerly known as “Reports” is where you would create various printable/ faxable/ saveable documents, as well as access the patient’s updated Wellness Plan and Timeline. “Generate” applies to both types of items within the menu, and is unlikely to cause confusion with other functionality.

The options under the renamed Generate menu are exactly the same as they were under Reports. But you’ll notice some changes under the renamed Reporting menu. Specifically, we removed redundant options that are available under other menus and added direct links to pages within the reporting dashboard.

We’re always mindful that changes to the navigation can be disorienting. In this case, we felt that the changes were worth the switch. We hope that you agree!

June 4, 2019
8

Patient Portal Design Update

By | Design Update, Product Update, Uncategorized

Cerbo has recently give our Patient Portal a design refresh to make it easier for patients to use and to give it a more modern look. All of our customers have the option of having their Patient Portal customized to look and feel like their website. With this new design, the Patient Portal is even more customizable so your patients will feel they’re still within your digital ecosystem. Check out the new design by creating a demo account!