Enhance Your Email Security, Reliability, and Professionalism

Ever feel like every move you make on the Internet is watched? Or wonder why business rivals or clients use branded email addresses that promote their businesses, instead of free, web-based services? Looking for your own simple, portable and secure email alternative designed specifically for professionals and business?

Microsoft Office 365 may be the right solution if you are now relying on free email services. The old saying, “nothing is free” is absolutely true when it comes to email security, reliability, and professionalism. For as little as $5 a month, per user, Microsoft Office 365 offers advantages you should consider:

• Your data is not scanned and shared. Period. Microsoft uses customer data only to provide its services. It does not scan your email to offer you “ads you’ll find most useful” as one prominent free email provider does.
• For medical offices and physicians, you are assured that all communications are HIPAA BAA compliant.
• Shared calendar access for all employees and company resources that need reservations like conference rooms and mobile equipment.
• Employee email and software access is centrally managed.
• Securely access your email, calendar, contacts and your team’s calendars from any web browser. Several plans include Microsoft Office for iPad and Windows tablets.
• Financially backed guaranteed availability of your email 99.9% of the time.
• Content sent between your devices and Microsoft will be encrypted by default.
• Email archiving, eDiscovery, and Message Encryption are available on Enterprise plans.
• Microsoft will alert business and government customers if it gets legal orders for your data.
• A range of Office 365 Business options are available to fit the size and needs of your business. Office 365 Business Essentials (Email plus): Provides business class email and shared calendars, Office Apps Online, online meetings, video conferencing, cloud storage with file sharing, and more. Office 365 Business (Microsoft Office on 5 PCs/5 devices): Full Office applications—Outlook, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote, and Publisher, with 1 TB (1,000 GB) of OneDrive for Business cloud storage to access, edit, and share documents across all your computers and devices. Office 365 Business Premium: Everything from both Office 365 Business Essentials and Business plans.

As the medical community becomes more immersed in technology, it needs the expertise of quality advisors. Something as simple as an errant email can cause costly HIPAA violations. Be prepared and let your National CPA Health Care Administrators Association (HCAA) member help. We can help you transition to one of the Office 365 Business options. We’ll suggest what service or combination of services best suits your needs and help you set up a new proprietary email address that highlights your business or its name. We’ll help you get the word out to your contacts that you have a new email. While you transition, we’ll make sure you’re not missing communications through your old email—it’s easy to have all emails forwarded to your new account.

Kathryn M. Walsh is a partner at GH·D, CPAS & ADVISORS located in St. Clair Shores, MI. She heads up the firm’s medical committee which focuses on the unique issues affecting their medical clients. Kathy can be reached at kathy.walsh@ghdcpa.com. Information with respect to Outlook and the contents of this article can be directed to the firm’s IT manager, Paul Abke at paul.abke@ghdcpa.com.

GH·D, CPAS & ADVISORS is a proud member of the National CPA Health Care Advisors Association (HCAA), a nationwide network of CPA firms devoted to serving the healthcare industry. Members provide proactive solutions to the accounting needs of physicians and physician groups. For more information contact the HCAA at info@hcaa.com.