Celebrating American Business Women’s Day

A combined 300 patients, employees, and medical providers depend on Pam Bridges’ leadership. The Practice Administrator for Fort Sanders Obstetrical & Gynecological Group is responsible for making sure all aspects of the business run smoothly. That includes the Medical Practice, Human Resources, IT, Financial, and Billing.

It’s not what you’d expect from a Piano Performance major.

Practice Administrator Pam Bridges carries a heavy load. There are 11 medical providers, 45 employees and hundreds of patients who rely on her at Fort Sander Obstetrical & Gynecological Group in Knoxville. She is responsible for making sure the Medical Practice, Human Resources, IT, Financial, and Billing run smoothly.

“We like to think we are the heartbeat of the community,” says Ridgeview and Ridgewood Health Services’ Sarah Christen Ivey.

It’s a bull market for black market health records. A single patient health record can earn cybercriminals 10 times the price of a stolen credit card number. The Office of Civil Rights is auditing small and large healthcare providers alike, imposing multi-million dollar fines in some cases. Meanwhile, the same electronic storage, mobile devices, and cloud-based applications that patients, doctors, and healthcare staff want to use often compromise a practice’s ability to keep that patient data safe.