To Keep Your Pharmacy’s POS System Safe, Avoid These Three Common Mistakes
Small pharmacies have a lot of responsibilities to manage: not only do they have to function as retail stores and provide consumers with high-quality products, but they also have to provide prescription medications and make sure that every single patient is treated correctly and carefully. One small mistake can be really costly for any pharmacy, but for an independent pharmacy — where financial resources are already stretched a bit thin, in most cases — one small mistake can be a big problem.
The best way to make sure that you keep your pharmacy software (and consequently, your patients’ personal records and your store’s information) safely away from cyberhackers is to use a newer retail pharmacy POS system. These POS systems have been designed specifically with pharmacies in mind, so they come equipped with both retail store features and extra features for healthcare professionals — like extra security measures, for example.
But it’s still important to remember that you can have the most advanced pharmacy software available and still face security threats and data breaches from cyberhackers.
Why? Because human errors are often the cause of security breaches, no matter how big the company is, what services/products it provides, or how new its computer system is.
So what are some of the biggest mistakes that people make which can compromise secure pharmacy software?
- Opening questionable emails from strangers/companies and downloading attachments from these emails or clicking on URL links which reroute the computer system to a bad website. These mistakes allow hackers to access the computer’s system.
- Setting all passwords and administrator accounts to the same predictable words. You’d be surprised by how many people still use “password” as their password — but cyberhackers aren’t.
- Using multiple mobile devices and allowing every employee to access the same account information. Mobile devices can be great for some POS systems, but it’s important to make sure you keep track of these devices and you monitor exactly who uses them. It’s also important to make sure that employees only have access to information they need rather than a whole database. Even if your employees are trustworthy, a system like this makes it too easy for cyberhackers to get in!
Remember, a secure system isn’t just about protecting your business — it’s about protecting your customers, too!