Giving Away the Keys to the Kingdom: Vendors and Your Website

Certain third-party vendors are now offering to "assist" practices by placing ma- terial and links associated with their services on the practice's website. This offer requires the practice to provide access to its website's contents. Patient privacy, insurance coverage, ethical duties, and IT integrity are all reasons that a practice should not provide a vendor administrative access to its website. Vendors seek- ing to promote goods or services via the practice should never be given access to alter the practice's website content. In the event a practice needs website assistance, it should seek help only from a qualified and insured person or entity.