Why does your vet practice need data back up?

It’s easy to downplay the risks of your data being compromised or lost, especially if you’re a small business and feel like you wouldn’t make a great target for hackers, or you don’t have the resources for full backups and protection.

However, a data breach or other event that causes you to lose practice data and client records can lead to significant financial losses, as well as lost productivity and downtime with your practice and staff—regardless of the size of your business. Your ability to recover data quickly and easily depends on the steps you take to prepare for such occurrences.

Types of data loss

One of the most common forms of data loss is through security incidents and breaches. According to the American Veterinary Medical Association, approximately 11,000 veterinary practices experience a cyberattack each year.¹ This number of attacks shows that veterinary practices are as much a target as other businesses.

Data can also be lost through natural disasters like floods, fire, lightning strikes, or other events that cause damage to your offices and computer equipment.

Having all your data in one place carries risk. Backing up your database is key to ensuring that files and data in your practice are secure and easily recoverable. There are several critical elements to a successful data backup strategy and using these will minimize the chances of you losing valuable information permanently.

Implementing a successful backup strategy

How often you run a backup depends on how often your data is updated. Most veterinary clinics have new customers and patients coming in every day, so this means you should do a backup daily.

Onsite and offsite backups

It is highly recommended that you have two copies of your backed-up data, one on the premises and another offsite. This means that if your practice is affected by a natural disaster or your equipment is lost or stolen, you still have a second copy stored securely elsewhere. Using an online cloud solution as part of your backup plan is a good option.

Automatic, scheduled backups

An automated data backup is essential, so the risks related to the “human factor” are removed. And the solution must back up your vital practice data securely and reliably 24/7, 365 days a year. The most effective way is through installed software set to automatically back up and upload your practice data. That way, you take the responsibility out of your staff’s hands by running backups invisibly in the background, letting you and your team focus on clients and patients in the clinic.

Redundancy, data upload and storage

Your data isn’t truly protected from loss unless you back it up regularly to more than one location. You may feel safe having a robust onsite backup or having a copy stored remotely in the cloud. However, best practice is to have both a secure offsite and onsite backup for your client, operational, and financial data.

Retrieval

While a robust backup strategy is an essential step in protecting your practice data, the main goal isn’t to create a copy – it’s about timely and effective retrieval. If you suffer a data loss event, you must be able to locate the backup source quickly and restore it within an acceptable recovery time objective (RTO).

Reinstallation

With so many businesses switching to digital workflows these days, it’s essential to reintroduce restored data back into your practice software as quickly as possible. You can imagine, for example, how your clinic would grind to a halt if you were unable to retrieve patient or client files.

Choosing the right backup solution provider

It may seem like a daunting task to handle such a detailed backup strategy on your own. Fortunately, there are a number of third-party providers who can do it for you. The key is to do your research ahead of time to find the right one for your needs.

Like most things in life, there are good and bad data backup solutions. Disreputable companies aren’t always upfront about what their service covers, they offer complicated pricing options, they don’t guarantee the accuracy of data verification, and they’re often hard to contact for support.

Covetrus can offer you an automated backup solution that works seamlessly with your practice software and gives you a single point of contact to call if the worst happens.

^1. “Five tips to protect veterinary practices against cyberattacks.” American Veterinary Medical Association. August 2023. https://www.avma.org/news/five-tips-protect-veterinary-practices-against-cyberattacks