Managed IT and Cybersecurity for Montana Veterinary Practices
Information Systems of Montana (ISM) provides managed IT, 24/7 security monitoring and backup for Montana veterinary clinics, animal hospitals and mixed-animal practices. We keep your practice management software, digital radiography and phones running, and we protect the client records and payment data your practice is responsible for.
Veterinary practices are not covered by HIPAA, but that does not mean there are no rules. We are a local Montana team that has supported Montana practices since 1995, and we build your security around the requirements that actually apply to you.
The rules that do apply to veterinary practices
HIPAA protects human health information, so it does not cover animal medical records. Your practice still has real obligations:
Not sure where your gaps are?
Schedule a free veterinary practice IT risk review.
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Montana's Board of Veterinary Medicine requires patient medical records to be maintained for every animal treated, kept in a way that allows retrieval, and released with the owner's consent (ARM 24.225.514)
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Montana's data breach law (MCA 30-14-1704) covers your clients' personal information, such as names combined with payment card or account numbers. A breach means notifying affected Montana residents and the Attorney General's Office of Consumer Protection
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If you take card payments, your card processor expects you to meet the PCI Data Security Standard
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Your cyber insurance carrier will ask about multi-factor authentication, backups and email security
The risks Montana vet practices face
Veterinary practices run on tight margins and busy front desks, which is exactly why attackers like them:
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Ransomware that locks practice management and imaging, so appointments, records and invoices stop
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Phishing and fake vendor invoices sent to a busy front desk or practice manager
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Shared front-desk logins that make it impossible to tell who did what
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Client Wi-Fi in the lobby sharing a network with exam room and lab computers
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Ranch calls and mobile vets working from laptops and tablets the practice does not manage
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Aging computers that cannot run current versions of practice software
How ISM protects your practice
Every managed plan includes the security layers below, built into the price instead of sold as add-ons:
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24/7 threat monitoring and response from a staffed security operations center
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Backup with off-site redundancy and tested restores for records, images and financial data
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AI-powered email protection against phishing and fake invoices
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Individual logins with multi-factor authentication instead of shared front-desk accounts
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Separate, secured networks for clinical systems, payment terminals and client Wi-Fi
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Support for your cloud or on-site practice management software and digital radiography, working directly with your vendors
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Secure laptops and tablets for mobile and ranch-call veterinarians
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Business phone systems that keep the front desk reachable (see our VoIP services)
Protecting Montana businesses since 1995
11.1-year average client relationship
Best of Montana five years running
Named to the CRN 2026 MSP 500 and the MSP 501
Titans of the Industry nominee two years running
Frequently Asked Questions
No. HIPAA applies to human health information held by covered entities like physicians, health plans and their business associates. Animal medical records are not protected health information. Montana veterinary practices do have record-keeping and confidentiality obligations under Board of Veterinary Medicine rules, and Montana's data breach law covers clients' personal information.
The Montana Board of Veterinary Medicine (ARM 24.225.514) requires patient records to be maintained for every animal treated, kept so they can be retrieved, and released with the owner's consent. Montana's breach law (MCA 30-14-1704) applies to clients' personal information, and card payments bring PCI requirements from your processor. ISM sets up and maintains the technical safeguards behind all three.
Yes. We support the network, computers, Microsoft 365 and security around your practice management system, whether it runs in the cloud or on a server in your clinic, and we work directly with your software and imaging vendors when an issue sits on their side.
Our security operations center works to contain the attack, and we restore your systems from backup with off-site redundancy, which is why we test restores before you need them. If client personal information was exposed, Montana law may require notifying affected clients and the Attorney General's Office of Consumer Protection, and we give you the technical facts to make that call.
Yes. We secure the laptops, tablets and phones your veterinarians use on ranch and farm calls, with encryption, multi-factor authentication and secure remote access to your practice software.
Yes. ISM serves practices in Billings, Bozeman, Butte, Great Falls, Helena, Kalispell, Missoula and rural communities across the state. Most support is delivered remotely, security monitoring runs 24/7, and our local Montana team handles on-site work when it is needed.
Talk to a Local Montana Team
Schedule a free veterinary practice IT risk review. We will look at your security, backups and compliance gaps and tell you plainly what to fix first.
