AI, or artificial intelligence, can be a helpful tool, but it comes with some serious security hazards you should be aware of. AI makes phishing more dangerous One of the dangers of AI is that it can be used by cybercriminals to create highly effective phishing emails. AI can reduce spelling and grammatical errors – things often used to identify phishing emails. AI can copy the style and tone of leaders in an organization, helping cybercriminals create well-written, believable, professional emails in seconds. AI can also sort through a vast amount of data relevant to hackers, using things like your recent vacation, your coworkers’ names and various personal details to create a convincing, targeted message quickly and easily. Finally, AI can learn from successes and failures, meaning it gradually gets better at bypassing spam filters. What still works? Thankfully, there are still some reliable tips to stay safe in an era of AI-aided phishing attempts….

Cybercrimes are a constant threat, and health systems are among the most frequently targeted entities. Among the simplest and most effective ways to avoid becoming a victim of a cybercrime like hacking is to create effective passwords and practice password safety. Ballad Health uses multi-factor authentication (MFA) for its passwords, which adds an extra level of security. As team members, you can take steps, as well – in particular with your Ballad Health network password: Use a passphrase – Create a password phrase with at least two words that are not related to each other, but you can easily remember. (For example, your pet’s name and your grandmother’s maiden name with a space between each word in the passphrase.) Make them long – Create a password that is 12 characters or longer. Password length is more important than complexity. Make them random – Use all four of the types of characters (uppercase letters, lowercase letters,…

Ballad Health is transitioning to Lightning Bolt as our new on-call schedule platform. Team members who use the on-call schedule will notice some improvements, taking effect Tuesday, Aug. 27, at 7 a.m. IMPORTANT NOTE: The on-call schedule will be in the same location as before, accessed from the Quick Links on the intranet home page. What’s new: Enhanced interface: An updated layout will provide a cleaner, more efficient experience, with quick access to physician information without needing to open a new window. Simplified scheduling: Schedulers can now make edits more easily with all tools conveniently located in one place. Clear contact details: Look for specific contact instructions in the “Custom2” column. If you have any questions, or if you’re a scheduler in need of training, please reach out to oncallscheduling@balladhealth.org.

Ballad Health will do an upgrade to our Epic electronic health record (EHR) on Wednesday, Aug. 14, starting at 1:30 a.m. Epic users will experience a scheduled Epic downtime of about two hours as the new February 2024 version of Epic is applied. Leading up to the event, Epic users will experience limitations with various Epic features beginning Friday, Aug. 9, at 5 p.m. Click here for more information on the system freeze. About the downtime Epic will not be completely offline during the downtime window, but will be placed in a “read only” status, so information can’t be entered into Epic during this downtime period. Ballad Health IT will notify users when the downtime period has ended through an IT “All Clear” notification. NOTE: A system build freeze for non-emergent Epic changes will go into effect starting Wednesday, Aug. 7, at noon, lasting until Wednesday, Aug. 14, at 7 p.m. About the upgrade Epic…

Get Rid of the Stupid Stuff (GRoSS) is an initiative we kicked off in May to improve the efficiency of our Epic electronic health records system and make life easier for all our Epic users. When a team member finds an issue in Epic, they can report it immediately through the GRoSS submission form. The initiative is brought forward by the Nursing Productivity/Satisfaction End User Group and is aimed at identifying anything in Epic that is poorly designed, unnecessary or nonsensical – thereby streamlining workflows and getting rid of unnecessary hurdles. So far, it has been a success. Thank you to all team members who have made submissions! Now accessible on Ballad Teams app! Now we’ve added a great new way to access the GRoSS submission form – through the Ballad Teams mobile app. Team members can find it by opening Ballad Teams, tapping on “Resources” at the bottom, and then scrolling down to the…

Our prize drawing for MyChart users continues through Friday, June 28. There’s still time to be entered to win a $500 Visa gift card! All registered MyChart for Ballad Health users – both new and existing – are entered to win a $500 Visa gift card. Ballad Health has been drawing a winner each week and the promotion ends June 28, so don’t delay – sign up for MyChart today! How to sign up for MyChart You can sign up for MyChart through the Ballad Health app. (NOTE: This is a separate app from the Ballad Teams app.) Download the Ballad Health app by following the instructions matching your device: For iPhone and iPad users: Go to the App Store At the bottom, click Search In the search bar, type “ballad health” Look for the Ballad Health icon Follow the directions to download the Ballad Health app Open the app and select “create account” For…

Malvertising is a relatively new type of cyberattack that injects digital ads with malicious code that can infect your device. Interacting with these ads can download malware directly to your phone or computer or may direct you to a dangerous site that uses other methods to steal your information. Criminals may disguise their webpage as a trusted site (spoofing) or use a variety of social engineering techniques to manipulate victims to give up information. Malvertising could also be embedded into QR codes and result in automatic downloads from malicious websites. This form of cyberattack is difficult to track down and often difficult to detect, since infected ads may appear legitimate. Malvertising can appear on otherwise legitimate websites as well. Sites like The New York Times, the BBC, Spotify, Forbes and the NFL have all had users attacked through infected ads. Unsolicited emails In addition to website advertisements, you may receive dangerous ads directly to your…

Our prize drawing for MyChart users is still going! Through Friday, June 28, all registered MyChart for Ballad Health users – both new and existing – will be entered to win a $500 Visa gift card. Ballad Health is drawing a winner each week, so don’t delay – sign up for MyChart today! How to sign up for MyChart You can sign up for MyChart through the Ballad Health app. (NOTE: This is a separate app from the Ballad Teams app.) Download the Ballad Health app by following the instructions matching your device: For iPhone and iPad users: Go to the App Store At the bottom, click Search In the search bar, type “ballad health” Look for the Ballad Health icon Follow the directions to download the Ballad Health app Open the app and select “create account” For Google Android phone and tablet users: Go to Google Play Go to the Apps section In the…

Get Rid of the Stupid Stuff (GRoSS) is an initiative we’re doing to improve the efficiency of our Epic electronic health records system and make life easier for all our Epic users. When a team member finds an issue in Epic, they can report it immediately through the GRoSS submission form. The initiative is brought forward by the Nursing Productivity/Satisfaction End User Group and is aimed at identifying anything in Epic that is poorly designed, unnecessary or nonsensical – thereby streamlining workflows and getting rid of unnecessary hurdles. This campaign is a direct response to feedback from our nurses and clinicians via surveys from our nursing and physician end-user groups, and it is a project that has been implemented with great success at other healthcare organizations across the country, such as Novant Health, Cleveland Clinic and Mount Sinai Health System. The process When a team member finds an issue, they can report it immediately through…

Ballad Health team members at some facilities will soon see a minor change to time clocks, as we are replacing 121 of the current time clocks around the system with the most recent Intouch model. See the schedule below for when affected facilities will make the transition. From a user perspective, these new models are essentially the same as the current 4500 version, but they feature a touch screen instead of buttons. Each affected facility will only have one time clock down at a time while they are being replaced, and the downtime for each clock is estimated to be 20 minutes. Why are we doing this? The company that maintains firmware for our time clocks has discontinued updates for the 4500 models. We are phasing out the old models for security and maintenance purposes. Facility schedule Below is an approximate schedule with the affected facilities and the expected installation periods. IT will send out…

Through Friday, June 28, all registered MyChart for Ballad Health users – both new and existing – will be entered to win a $500 Visa gift card. Ballad Health is drawing a winner each week, so don’t delay – sign up for MyChart today! How to sign up for MyChart You can sign up for MyChart through the Ballad Health app. (NOTE: This is a separate app from the Ballad Teams app.) Download the Ballad Health app by following the instructions matching your device: For iPhone and iPad users: Go to the App Store At the bottom, click Search In the search bar, type “ballad health” Look for the Ballad Health icon Follow the directions to download the Ballad Health app Open the app and select “create account” For Google Android phone and tablet users: Go to Google Play Go to the Apps section In the search bar, type “ballad health” Look for the Ballad…

There’s a great new way to improve your Epic efficiency – become a Smart User! Previously referred to as Power Users, Smart Users are certified clinicians with next-level Epic skills. Any physicians and APPs with access to the Ballad Health Epic system are welcome and encouraged to become Smart Users. The Smart User Program consists of eight core courses that will lead you deeper into maximizing your use of Epic and unlocking all of its functionality. Doing so can save you time and effort in your daily workflow and open up new options in handling patient care and collaborating with your peers. Once you complete the course, you will receive a Smart User badge and four citizenship points for Ballad Health Medical Associates (BHMA). The hour-long classes are completely free, virtual and can be completed as convenient to your schedule. Some of the benefits include: Increased efficiency – Smart Users report saving an average of…