Contingency Plans Related to Disaster Recovery

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Lichten, Pg.6 instruments, diagnostic imaging equipment, etc.) and information systems across the hospital.” The one saving grace that is discussed is their use of health information exchange. As Minghella explains; “Our involvement in a Health Information Exchange (HIE) played an important role in helping us recover from this data loss…As a result of that effort, lab tests, diagnostic imaging results and transcribed reports like operative reports, discharge summaries and inpatient progress notes were available for use in re-creating the patient record.” The use of health information exchange clearly proved to be a key factor in their recovery. Minghella further goes on to stress the importance of paper records as a backup. She demonstrates the necessity as she states, “during an extended IT outage you are going to appreciate a paper-based fallback system like a kid wanting cold, soothing ice cream after a tonsillectomy”. I believe this situation is a prime example of the importance of contingency plans. Additionally, I believe it impeccably exemplifies the dynamics of contingency plans, as well as their actual use. In terms of the use of EHRs in disaster response, Hurricane Katrina is a prime example. Due to the magnitude of Hurricane Katrina and its disastrous effects, the service interruptions were of a much larger scale than those faced at Boulder Community Hospital. This is clearly shown as Brown, Fischetti and Kolodner elucidate; “The inability of 3 sites that were up and running but without national network connections to transmit routine prescription data underscored the criticality of data communications to maintaining operations.” This excerpt clearly proves the necessity for contingency plans regarding large scale ... ... middle of paper ... ...w.healthcare-informatics.com/article/hospitals-prepared-hurricane-sandy-bolstering-infrastructure>. Pham, Thu. "Components of a HIPAA Compliant IT Contingency Plan." OnLINE TECH. Online Tech., 19 June 2013. Web. 22 Mar. 2014. . Rupp, Scott. "What’s Your Plan? Cloud as Disaster Recovery for Healthcare IT and Healthcare Consultants." Electronic Health Reporter. Millerrupp, LLC, 23 May 2013. Web. 25 Mar. 2014. . Steciw, Anne. "FAQ: Disaster Recovery Planning for Health Care Data." FAQ: Disaster Recovery Planning for Health Care Data. TechTarget, n.d. Web. 23 Mar. 2014. .

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