Technical Support Questions and Answers

Q: When is the service available?

A: The service has been available since February 2019.  HIMSA offers the service to United States based customers.

Q: Will HIMSA assist in the setup and management of Noah System features?

A: HIMSA's responsibility is to host your Noah Server and database so that it is secure an in good working order at all times.  The management of user accounts, application options and settings are up to your business to administer.  This site does contain a great number of tips and suggestions on how to utilize the features though.

Q. What monitoring is in place to ensure my data is secure and my Noah Server is functioning?

A: HIMSA has monitoring in place to:

• Monitor the general Windows Server health used to host your system; if there is a problem, HIMSA will be alerted and will react as a high priority
• Check once a minute to ensure that the Noah services on your server are running.  If there is an issue HIMSA will be alerted and will react as a high priority.

Q: Is my company allowed to remotely log into the server?

A: No, for security purposes this is not possible.

You will need an internet connection when using Noah System if you wish to be connected to the hosted Database.  At minimum, you will need a connection speed of at least:

• 2 Mpbs download
• 2 Mpbs upload

If you are uncertain of your speed, please check at http://himsa.speedtestcustom.com.  You should check at each office and as a test, while connected outside of the office (e.g. connecting via a mobile hot spot).  Your speed connection tests should also be run during normal business hours to accurately measure your internet speed while other employees are making use of the internet connection.

Q: How does Noah System secure patient data transferred between the Noah Server and Noah client workstations?

A: Noah System makes use of the cryptographic protocol TLS 1.2.  Noah System provided by this service, noah4.com, also uses a public key certificate to ensure maximum security.

Q: What internet ports are required to be open for communication with Noah?

A: Port 8200 and 8206

Q: If I have forgotten my user name or password, what should I do?

A: HIMSA does not have access to see what your user name or passwords are.  HIMSA suggests:

1. You contact your Noah administrator for assistance
2. If you are a Noah administrator, ask for assistance from another Noah administrator who can log into Noah.
3. If all admin users are  unable to login, it will then be necessary to open a technical support request with HIMSA.  With your request and approval, HIMSA is able to regain access but the process may take an extended time to complete.

Q. How can HIMSA ensure that I have a trouble-free connection to my Noah Server?

A. HIMSA has done months of testing with Noah as a Service. We have stressed the setup with large numbers of connected clients, very large databases, a variety of connection speeds and qualities. Noah as a Service has excelled in HIMSA testing. We expect you to have an excellent experience as well.  Based on experience working with traditional Noah System in a network setup, errors that may occur if there is a loss of connection to the database include:

• Launching Noah I receive error 50138
• How do I log in to my local Noah database if the Noah server is not available?

Q: Will Noah System be able to automatically synchronize data between the hosted database and one that I may have on my local computer?

A: No, but it is still possible to manually perform an export and import.

Q: Will HIMSA have access to patient data?

A: No, HIMSA will not have access to patient data.

Q: Is my companies' Noah data combined with other business's?

A: No, your Noah data is completely contained in separate data storage.

Q: What database technology is being used?

A: Windows CE 4.0

Q: Is the database encrypted?

A: Yes, the database is encrypted.

Q: How often is the database backed up?

A: The database is backed up once per day, scheduled for after normal business hours.  Additionally, the database backup is stored in two separate data centers for redundancy and disaster recovery. 

Q: How are database backups secured?

A: The database backups are encrypted and stored separately from all other accounts.

Q: How long are the database backups retained?

A: 90 days

Q: I have several databases and would really like to have one database for all of my patients and offices.  Is it possible for these databases to be combined?

A: Yes, this is possible and will now be much easier with a centralized database. 

https://www.himsa.com/support/noah-4-knowledge-base/the-learning-center-2/best-practices-for-exporting-and-importing-noah-records/

https://www.himsa.com/support/noah-4-knowledge-base/the-learning-center-2/merge-duplicate-patients-feature-in-noah/

Q: Is it possible for HIMSA to assist in the combining process?

A: No, HIMSA is not able to assist with this other then to provide the tools and instructions listed above.  During this process, there will be times where an employee of your company will be best suited to determine if 2 patients flagged as a potential duplicate are or are not the same person.

Noah 4 does provide all the necessary security precautions (e.g. secure networking) but your company must also share in some responsibility with securing your data, namely by ensuring that:

• strong passwords are used - the current default is set to enforce this
• passwords are changed routinely - the current default is to require passwords to be changed every 30 days.
• Each employee for your business using Noah has their own Noah user account setup with the appropriate access level.  Click here for more information

HIMSA does make use of the following sub-suppliers to deliver Noah as a Service