Q. Is it a good idea to backup our patient data to an online service?

A. There have been two changes in recent months that make adopting online backup of your practice data a good idea. The GP software companies now offer online backup for a flat monthly rate. Previously the cost was related to the size of the data you placed online and this was prohibitive for practices with large data files. A flat monthly fee makes it much more affordable and you can plan for the ongoing cost.

The emergence of ransomware, particularly the Locky malware, has increased the risk of not having a good backup strategy in place. If you get hit by ransomware and you don't have a full and recent backup available, then you are in big trouble. So the clear message is: talk to your GP software vendor and put in place an online backup system.