As counsellors we understand the absolute necessity of client confidentiality. As part of your private therapy practice you will likely store client contact details and emergency contact details, as well as the sensitive data held within your clinical notes.
Secure client note storage is fundamental in private practice
Under GDPR this makes us both data processors and data controllers and it is our responsibility to ensure that client data is handled and stored securely. There really is no such thing as being too careful with your client information and so when starting your counselling business, it is essential that you consider carefully how you’ll keep these records.
Many of us are now choosing to keep our records digitally because of the benefits this confers (reduced office space requirements, ease of accessibility and archiving, and often greater security).
Good practice for digital data security
There are 5 basic IT security measures that you should hold in mind when storing your client’s data digitally:
1. Install system updates on your devices as soon as they become available
2. Ensure that your devices are password protected and create strong passwords for this
3. Enable 2 factor authentication for extra protection
4. Encrypt your data and password protect files
5. Back up your files regularly
Practice management software is a safe place for your client data
The best Practice Management Software for therapists will handle the majority of this for you to give you greater peace of mind.
The platfom should be fully encrypted and client data will be automatically backed up on secure UK based servers. Two factor authentication should be offered as standard to protect your account and client records should be automatically anonymised for you to prevent any confidentiality breaches.
With Kiku you can safely store your client records from as little as £4.99 per month.
Because we are therapists too, we understand the importance of running our counselling businesses in line with GDPR and how much extra admin and headspace this can involve.
Alongside all the data security measures you would expect from any practice management platform, we also offer quick & easy client record archiving (we’ll even give you a nudge in 7 years to let you know it’s time to delete the record), anonymised clinical notes and itemised income reports as standard, and the ability to download a client’s clinical notes into a password protected pdf, should you ever need to share this data with a third party.
We are here to help. You do the therapy. We do the rest.
Kiku offers secure clinical notes software from just £4.99 a month
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