Running a practice using an EHR offers a wide array of benefits, including reducing time on administrative tasks, going paperless, and keeping your documentation secure and consolidated.
However, because your practice is now run within your computer, certain proactive and precautionary measures are recommended to ensure you maintain HIPAA compliance, and that you have the best SimplePractice experience.
In this guide, we’ll cover:
- Updating your operating system
- Checking your browser version
- Enabling JavaScript and cookies
- Turning on AdBlock
- Using Autofill
- Setting up browser extensions
Updating your operating system
To keep your browser working smoothly, it’s best to make sure your computer’s operating system is up-to-date. System updates fix performance issues for your browser, internet connection, and other key features on your computer. For guidance on how to update your operating system, see:
Checking your browser version
We recommend that you use the most recent version of your preferred browser. Each browser update comes with improvements, new features, and performance fixes that keep your internet browsing experience smooth and error-free.
Tip: To see the minimum version requirements for all supported browsers, see What are the minimum requirements for successfully using SimplePractice?
To update Google Chrome
- Open Chrome
- Click the 3 vertical dots on the top right
- Click Help > About Google Chrome
- Select Update Google Chrome
- If you don’t see this button, you're already on the latest version
- Click Relaunch
To update Firefox
- Open Firefox
- Click Firefox > About Firefox in the menu bar
- Firefox will check for updates and download them automatically
- Click Restart
To update Safari
Safari is updated automatically when you update your Mac’s operating system. To update Safari, see Updating your operating system.
Enabling JavaScript and cookies
In SimplePractice, we use JavaScript to render key features on the site, and we use cookies to store small bits of data in your browser to ensure you have a consistent SimplePractice experience. Browsers allow you to disable these features, however, we recommend enabling them for SimplePractice to retain access to all of our features.
To enable JavaScript and cookies on Chrome
- Open Chrome
- In the top right, click the 3 vertical dots
- Choose Settings > Privacy and Security
- Click Cookies and other site data
- Check Allow sites to save and read cookie data (recommended)
- If you prefer to have cookies disabled on other sites, under Allow click Add, and add secure.simplepractice.com
- Click JavaScript
- Check Allowed (recommended)
- If you prefer to have JavaScript disabled on other sites, under Allow clickAdd and addsecure.simplepractice.com
To enable JavaScript and cookies on Firefox
- Open Firefox
- In the top right, click the three horizontal lines
- Choose Settings > Privacy & Security
- Under Enhanced Tracking Protection, make sure Standard is checked
To enable JavaScript and cookies on Safari
- Open Safari
- In the menu bar click Safari > Preferences
- Click the Security tab
- Ensure that Enable JavaScript is checked
- Click the Privacy tab
- Ensure that Block all cookies is unchecked
Note: To learn more about how SimplePractice collects and uses data, and customize your cookie preferences, please see our Privacy Policy.
Turning on AdBlock
Unwanted internet advertisements are a common annoyance, which is why the AdBlock extension is popular. Though SimplePractice will never include ads, AdBlock can still interfere with your use of features like Telehealth or Secure Messaging.
To ensure that AdBlock continues to block ads on other sites, without affecting features you want to use on SimplePractice, you can disable AdBlock for SimplePractice. To do this:
- In the upper right, click the AdBlock icon among your browser extensions
- Select Don't run on pages on this site (if you’re on Chrome) or Don't run on pages on this domain (on other browsers)
- Click Exclude
Using Autofill
Some browsers have Autofill that allows them to remember addresses, credit cards, passwords, and more to make it easy to fill out forms online. For most standard consumers, this is a convenient feature.
However, for someone running an internet-based business involving PHI, this can lead to the inadvertent storing of client information within your browser. In addition, storing login credentials within your browser means they'll be accessible to anyone opening your computer.
We recommend disabling Autofill on the browser you use to access SimplePractice. To do this:
Disabling Autofill on Chrome
- Open Chrome
- In the top right, click the 3 vertical dots
- Choose Settings > Autofill
- Select Password Manager
- Disable the toggles for Offer to save passwords and Auto Sign-in
- Click the back arrow
- Select Addresses and more
- Disable the toggle for Save and fill addresses
Disabling Autofill on Firefox
- Open Firefox
- Click Firefox > Preferences
- In the right column, choose Privacy & Security
- Under Forms & Autofill section, uncheck Autofill Addresses
Disabling Autofill on Safari
- Open Safari
- Click Safari > Preferences > Autofill
- Uncheck Using information from my contacts, User names and passwords, Credit cards, and Other forms
Disabling Autofill on Edge
- Open Edge
- In the top right, click the 3 horizontal lines
- Click Settings > Your Profile
- Toggle off Personal info, Passwords, and Payment info
Setting up browser extensions
Many browser extensions can degrade your browser’s performance, or even infect your computer with malware and harvest your information. In addition, many common extensions aren’t HIPAA-compliant.
Internet security experts recommend using as few browser extensions as possible, or ideally, none at all.
Installing extensions from third-party developers puts your data and your clients' data at risk. When using SimplePractice, we recommend removing all browser extensions. To do this:
Removing browser extensions on Chrome
- Open Chrome
- In the top right, click the 3 vertical dots
- Choose More Tools > Extensions
- Click Remove to uninstall your browser extensions
Removing browser extensions on Firefox
- Open Firefox
- In the top right, click the 3 horizontal lines and choose Add-ons and themes
- Right-click the extensions to uninstall or disable them
Removing browser extensions on Safari
- Open Safari
- In the menu bar click Safari > Preferences
- Click the Extensions tab
- In the menu on the left, click an extension and then click Uninstall on the right
Removing browser extensions on Edge
- Open Edge
- In the top right, click the puzzle piece icon
- Choose More actions next to the extension that you’d like to remove
- Select Remove from Microsoft Edge > Remove
