Congratulations to Tricia Casasanta and the Strategic Practice Solutions team for an incredibly successful event! So glad that we could be a part of it.
#OMAComp #EventPlanning #OnlineMarketing
News
Pay Attention to Cyber Crime this Tax Season
Every year businesses are hit with increased cybersecurity threats during tax season. Companies of all sizes are at risk of losing valuable information and potential exposure of financial loss. Here are three things you need to keep in mind this tax season.
#1. Phishing Attempts
Phishing is when someone sends an e-mail from what appears to be a trusted vendor, customer, or organization that is designed to steal your information. E-mails can be modified to appear to be from an organization’s server and will likely reflect a domain and username you would expect to see coming from that specific organization.
Be alert to unexpected critical e-mails and reach out to that individual or organization by phone if you feel something is not right. Most trusted parties will not request sensitive data via e-mail; however, also look out for links within emails that can lead to untrusted websites. Modern e-mail clients allow you to hover over a link before clicking, so check for irregular domains and URL shorteners.
#2 Contact from IRS Agents
Cyber criminals may attempt to disguise themselves as IRS agents in order to obtain compromising information about your business and employees. Often, the “agent” will request additional information that is unnecessary for filing purposes but holds tremendous value to them like social security numbers, telephone numbers, and addresses. The IRS will only contact you by U.S. mail!
#3. Internal Actors
The nature of many companies’ work requires individuals other than the proprietor to access critical information. These employees should be made aware of communication procedures and safeguards to prevent cybercrimes from occurring. A majority of cyber incidents are caused by people that are unware of threats.
Year-Round Attention
Remember to be vigilant all year long, just because taxes have been filed does not mean the end of cybersecurity threats.
To learn more about best practices for your business or to schedule an employee training, please contact OMA Comp.
#OMAComp #CyberSecurity #PhishingAttempts #EmployeeTraining #CyberCrime #TaxFraud
HIPAA Compliance Is Only Getting Tougher
The technology used to run your business becomes more complex by the day. While advances in technology offer improvements in efficiency and capacity, companies in the medical field find it challenging to remain compliant with regulatory measures.
The Health Insurance Portability and Accounting Act, commonly abbreviated as HIPAA, mandates that all businesses handling patient data follow certain protocol to ensure the protection of sensitive data.
Let’s take a look into how businesses are impacted by the advancement of technology, and what’s required to remain compliant.
- Determine Which Systems Use Patient Data
HIPAA standards apply to any technical system that is used to handle, transfer and/ or modify patient data. It’s important for you and your team to understand which systems interact with patient data and to be aware of any updates that may occur to these systems. You should be able to draw a diagram of exactly where your patient’s data goes, and if any system breaches secure protocol, take measures to correct it.
- Centralize Data Management
Smart businesses rely on as few systems as possible when handling patient data. The more systems that interact with your patient’s data, the increased chance of a data breach.
- Lapses in HIPAA Compliance Can Be Costly!
Operating without HIPAA compliant systems is illegal, and will subject your business to serious penalties. Failing to comply with new measures can also prove fatal if your IT response is too slow – downtime in any business creates huge financial headaches when you’re unable to serve patients.
OMA Comp assists medical companies that handle patient data, contact us to learn more.
#OMAComp #HIPAACompliance #MedicalOfficeTechnology #PatientData
How Often Should You Upgrade Your Website?
Has it been over six months since your company last updated its website? You’re not alone if that is the case.
More businesses are getting online and posting content than ever before; however, an increasing number of firms are also leaving their websites untouched for months on end. Leaving a website untouched for extended periods creates an environment of misinformation to potential customers and lower online optimization from search engines.
Why Do I need to Upgrade?
A business might upgrade their website for a variety of reasons. The top reasons include:
- Device Compatibility
- User Experience
- Information availability
- Organic Optimization
An outdated website can leave visitors with a sour impression and may impact sales conversion potential. Businesses seriously underestimate the impression a poorly maintained website can make on visitors.
Upgrading for Device Compatibility
Consumers are viewing websites across more devices than ever before. Customers have grown to expect that websites will appear and function properly regardless of the device they are using. It’s a good idea to plan for this “device diversity”, and structure your website to look great across all devices.
Capacity and Speed
Increased traffic to a website is demanding when resources are limited. Upgrading your website’s resources to handle an increase in visitors keeps load times quick and site navigation snappy – a recipe for great user experience.
Growing businesses should create a plan for implementing future website upgrades to allocate resources effectively and tie in the appropriate business functions. Creating a plan in the form of a roadmap of next steps also makes it easier to communicate objectives with stakeholders.
Are you stuck with an outdated website and unsure what to do? Contact us today to explore how our expert developers can assist you.
#OMAComp #WebsiteDevelopment #ResponsiveWebsites #OrganicOptimization #ContentManagement
Achieve Great Results with Online Marketing
The science of business marketing has evolved quite a bit over the past decade. This evolution comes as the result of new technology, changing consumer needs, the development and refinement of the internet and the advancement of social media. These factors allow businesses of any size achieve remarkable results with online marketing.
The Basics
To get started, it’s important to understand exactly what online marketing entails and how it fits into a more generalized marketing strategy. Online marketing is the umbrella term for any form of marketing which occurs by digital means (think of the content you see on your smartphone, laptop, or desktop, for example) and anything requiring an internet connection.
The digital landscape is more complex than any physical marketing strategy seen before. The first step in maximizing digital returns is to manage your online brand by investigating and understanding the information you find about your business online.
Remember Scale
Things scale seamlessly on the internet. Be careful to take note of the agreement you sign with each marketing platform to avoid careless spending. If possible, set a limit to the maximum amount you are willing to spend on a specific platform (businesses typically set their max spend to 20% of their marketing budget per platform).
If your company has decided to begin an online marketing campaign or is interested in managing things differently, OMA Comp can help. We enable businesses of all sizes to grow organically through meticulously planned marketing engagements. Our team is also capable of assisting with topics like branding, design, and strategy. Contact us to learn more.
#OMAComp #OnlineMarketing #SocialMediaOptimization
2017 OMA Comp Employee of the Year
Congratulations to Paul Zagaja who is the 2017 OMA Comp Employee of the Year!
Paul is coming up on his 10 year anniversary with OMA Comp and we look forward to another decade working together to provide our customers optimum service and best technological solutions for their businesses.
#OMAComp #EmployeeoftheYear #TechnologicalSolutions
