https://smartconnects.com/insights Weekly insights on pharmacy cybersecurity, connectivity, and what's hitting independent pharmacies right now. en-us Tue, 14 Jul 2026 15:27:29 GMT https://smartconnects.com/insights/when-the-internet-goes-down-your-pharmacy-shouldnt https://smartconnects.com/insights/when-the-internet-goes-down-your-pharmacy-shouldnt Fri, 22 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT Connectivity Jerry Horani An ISP outage used to mean a closed pharmacy. In 2026, with the right setup, it should be a minor blip your customers never notice. Here is exactly what "always on" looks like — and what it actually costs you if you do not have it. https://smartconnects.com/insights/how-ai-cuts-a-pharmacys-refill-workflow-in-half https://smartconnects.com/insights/how-ai-cuts-a-pharmacys-refill-workflow-in-half Fri, 15 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT SmartConnect RX & AI Joseph Sughayar Most pharmacy owners hear "AI" and think of replacing staff. The reality is much more useful. Here is exactly where AI is saving pharmacies hours every day — and exactly where it isn't ready yet. https://smartconnects.com/insights/5-questions-every-pharmacy-owner-should-ask-before-signing-an-isp-contract https://smartconnects.com/insights/5-questions-every-pharmacy-owner-should-ask-before-signing-an-isp-contract Fri, 08 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT ISP Procurement Simon Hinn ISP sales reps are very good at their jobs. Most independent pharmacies sign a 36-month contract without asking the five questions that would have saved them thousands. Here they are. https://smartconnects.com/insights/5g-failover-explained-for-pharmacy-owners-who-hate-tech-jargon https://smartconnects.com/insights/5g-failover-explained-for-pharmacy-owners-who-hate-tech-jargon Fri, 01 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT Connectivity Jerry Horani A plain-English explanation of how automatic 5G failover actually works, what it costs, and the difference between real failover and the kind that leaves you closed for three hours when fiber goes down. https://smartconnects.com/insights/this-week-in-pharmacy-phishing-fake-pbm-audit https://smartconnects.com/insights/this-week-in-pharmacy-phishing-fake-pbm-audit Fri, 24 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT Endpoint Protection Sam Shaer A convincing fake PBM "audit notice" is hitting independent pharmacies this week. Here's exactly what it looks like, why it works, and the 4-step playbook every owner should run today. https://smartconnects.com/insights/mfa-in-10-minutes-the-one-setting-that-stops-account-takeovers https://smartconnects.com/insights/mfa-in-10-minutes-the-one-setting-that-stops-account-takeovers Fri, 17 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT Compliance & Training Yazan Khoury If your pharmacy only does one security thing this quarter, make it this. Multi-factor authentication takes about 10 minutes per portal to turn on and blocks the overwhelming majority of account takeover attacks. https://smartconnects.com/insights/how-much-does-downtime-really-cost-an-independent-pharmacy https://smartconnects.com/insights/how-much-does-downtime-really-cost-an-independent-pharmacy Fri, 10 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT Connectivity Jerry Horani Most pharmacy owners underestimate the true cost of an outage by about 3x. Here is the real math — direct revenue, wages, patient walk-offs, lifetime value losses, and the cost of doing nothing — for a single 4-hour internet outage. https://smartconnects.com/insights/a-day-in-the-life-with-smartconnect-rx https://smartconnects.com/insights/a-day-in-the-life-with-smartconnect-rx Fri, 03 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT SmartConnect RX & AI Joseph Sughayar SmartConnect RX is the platform we built to run an entire pharmacy network from a single dashboard — providers, pharmacies, medications, the refill engine, integrations, and group performance, all in one place. Here is exactly what is inside. https://smartconnects.com/insights/how-to-negotiate-your-isp-bill-down-by-30-percent https://smartconnects.com/insights/how-to-negotiate-your-isp-bill-down-by-30-percent Fri, 27 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT ISP Procurement Simon Hinn Your ISP almost certainly has authority to drop your bill 20–40% if you call the right department and use the right phrases. Here is the exact script we use to do it for pharmacies every month. https://smartconnects.com/insights/fiber-vs-cable-vs-5g-which-internet-is-right-for-your-pharmacy https://smartconnects.com/insights/fiber-vs-cable-vs-5g-which-internet-is-right-for-your-pharmacy Fri, 20 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT Connectivity Jerry Horani Three internet technologies, three very different price tags, and only one of them is actually right for most independent pharmacies. Here is the plain-English breakdown — what each one is, what it costs, and which one to pick. https://smartconnects.com/insights/5-phishing-red-flags-pharmacy-team-should-know https://smartconnects.com/insights/5-phishing-red-flags-pharmacy-team-should-know Fri, 13 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT Endpoint Protection Sam Shaer A one-page guide you can print, tape next to every workstation, and read at your next staff meeting. If your team sees any of these five things in an email, they should stop and ask — before they click. https://smartconnects.com/insights/why-your-wholesaler-password-should-not-match-your-email https://smartconnects.com/insights/why-your-wholesaler-password-should-not-match-your-email Fri, 06 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT Compliance & Training Yazan Khoury Password reuse is the single most common way attackers get into pharmacy portals — and it is the easiest one to fix. Here is exactly how, with zero new technology. https://smartconnects.com/insights/the-hidden-cost-of-free-isp-equipment-in-your-pharmacy https://smartconnects.com/insights/the-hidden-cost-of-free-isp-equipment-in-your-pharmacy Fri, 27 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT Connectivity Jerry Horani That beige router your ISP installed for free is costing you more than you think — in slow PBM claims, dropped credit card transactions, and security gaps you can't even see. Here is what it's actually doing to your pharmacy. https://smartconnects.com/insights/voice-ai-for-pharmacy-phones-what-it-can-do-today https://smartconnects.com/insights/voice-ai-for-pharmacy-phones-what-it-can-do-today Fri, 20 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT SmartConnect RX & AI Joseph Sughayar Your pharmacy's phone is the single biggest drain on your team's day — and the technology to fix it has finally crossed the line into usable. Here is what voice AI is actually doing in pharmacies today. https://smartconnects.com/insights/business-internet-vs-residential-what-pharmacies-actually-need https://smartconnects.com/insights/business-internet-vs-residential-what-pharmacies-actually-need Fri, 13 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT ISP Procurement Simon Hinn A surprising number of independent pharmacies are running on residential internet plans without realizing it. Here is the difference in plain English — and why it matters more than you think. https://smartconnects.com/insights/why-your-wifi-drops-at-2pm-every-day-and-how-to-fix-it https://smartconnects.com/insights/why-your-wifi-drops-at-2pm-every-day-and-how-to-fix-it Fri, 06 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT Connectivity Jerry Horani If your pharmacy's Wi-Fi grinds to a halt at the exact same time every afternoon, you are not imagining it — and your ISP isn't lying when they say their line is fine. Here is what's actually happening, and the three fixes that solve it. https://smartconnects.com/insights/what-actually-happens-during-a-ransomware-attack-on-a-pharmacy https://smartconnects.com/insights/what-actually-happens-during-a-ransomware-attack-on-a-pharmacy Fri, 30 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT Endpoint Protection Sam Shaer A blow-by-blow account of what a real ransomware attack looks like inside an independent pharmacy — from the click that started it to the day operations came back online — and the five controls that would have stopped it. https://smartconnects.com/insights/hipaa-pci-and-you-the-3-compliance-things-that-actually-get-pharmacies-fined https://smartconnects.com/insights/hipaa-pci-and-you-the-3-compliance-things-that-actually-get-pharmacies-fined Fri, 23 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT Compliance & Training Yazan Khoury Forget the 400-page compliance manual. After years of working with independent pharmacies, three specific failures account for the overwhelming majority of HIPAA and PCI fines. Fix these three and you are 90% of the way there.