Every medical practice is at risk for a natural or man-made disaster. Future events cannot be predicted, but responses to such events can be. Any medical professional who has worked through a disaster can tell you either how glad they are that the practice had a disaster plan in place, or how they regret the practice was not prepared for such a risk. A serious crisis—fire, weather event, health crisis, or something else—disrupts your business. It threatens income streams, company data, jobs, personal safety, and patient care. Who do you think employees and patients will turn to in an emergency? You, the practice manager. You are the one who your team members expect to have a plan. If you have a good one, then you can help guide your company through a rough spot and get the organization back on its feet. Since you never know when a crisis may strike, the best time to prepare is now.
While we cannot control or predict the future, we can plan for it, and we are even required to do so by the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) of 1996. Few people would argue that disaster planning is a waste of time, or that it is not important for maintaining patient safety and continuity of care. It is clearly good business practice to have a plan in place to ensure the financial stability of a practice, even—and especially—in the event of a disaster.
Although it is recognized as important, seen as a sound business practice, and even mandated by federal law, how many oncology practices make disaster planning a priority? It seems to be one of those tasks that gets pushed to the back burner in favor of more immediate, more pressing needs in the office.
The most effective plan is developed by a team so that it does not depend solely on 1 person. It will help to designate someone as the disaster plan coordinator to lead the team. Other members to consider are the office manager, information technology manager, human resources manager, and accounts payable/bookkeeper. The makeup of your team may vary depending on the size of your practice. Regardless of the titles assumed by those staff members, you will want to make sure that attention is given to the specific tasks discussed below.
The disaster plan coordinator will lead the team. Determine that person’s responsibilities, including oversight, to ensure each of the other team members maintains his or her assignments. Better yet, determine responsibilities with the person to gain buy-in and ownership in developing the plan. Then assign a backup disaster plan coordinator so that not everything is lost if the coordinator becomes unavailable in the event of an emergency.
Before Disaster Hits Pick and choose where to start, divide them among staff and do some simultaneously, or commit to a set number of hours you will work on the plan each week. Before you know it, you will be checking tasks off your list and feeling good about it. Steps to take before disaster strikes:
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