Updated on May 2, 2023 by Jordan McGlone
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Business continuity is very important for healthcare organizations because it helps them keep providing patient care even during emergencies or disruptions. Why? It’s essential for healthcare organizations to keep patients safe, follow rules and regulations, maintain trust, stay financially stable, and support both employees and the community.
Processes aimed at continuity it is important to make sure patients are safe and get the care they need. If health care is disrupted, patients might suffer, even becoming a life-threatening situation. Second, healthcare organizations must follow rules and regulations, so they must ensure they can still assist patients during difficult times to avoid legal problems.
Healthcare organizations also need to maintain a good reputation and the trust of the public. People might lose faith in them if they can’t handle emergencies well. Financial stability is another important factor. Disruptions can lead to lost money and increased expenses, so a business continuity plan can help healthcare organizations avoid these issues.
Moreover, healthcare organizations need supplies, like medications and medical equipment, to provide proper care. A good business continuity plan makes sure these supplies are available even during emergencies. This also helps employees feel supported during tough times, boosting their morale and encouraging them to stay with the organization. Lastly, healthcare organizations work with other important sectors like energy, transportation, and communication, so keeping healthcare services running helps the whole community stay strong.
Related article: Telehealth & Remote Healthcare: Cybersecurity Compliance You Need to Know.
Why Continuity Is Critical in Healthcare
Healthcare organizations, like hospitals and clinics, provide important medical services to people. Sometimes, unexpected events can disrupt these services. For example, a big storm might cause a power outage, or a computer virus might attack the hospital’s computer system. When healthcare organizations don’t have good plans to deal with these disruptions, they face several risks:
- Patient Safety Risks: When healthcare services are disrupted, patients might not get the care they need. For example, if a hospital’s electronic health record (EHR) system goes down, clinicians may not have access to critical patient information, which can lead to delays in treatment, medication errors, and other safety issues.
- Financial Risks: Healthcare organizations may suffer financial losses due to disruptions in operations. These losses can result from reduced patient volumes, increased costs associated with recovery efforts, and potential legal liabilities.
- Operational Risks: Disruptions can make it hard for healthcare organizations to do their normal work and provide quality patient care. For example, a power outage or IT system failure can disrupt medical procedures, laboratory testing, and other critical functions.
- Regulatory and Compliance Risks: Healthcare organizations are subject to various regulations and standards related to patient safety, data security, and emergency preparedness. A lack of business continuity measures may result in non-compliance with these regulations, leading to fines, penalties, and other regulatory actions.
- Reputational Risks: A lack of business continuity measures can damage a healthcare organization’s reputation. Patients and the public may lose trust in the organization’s ability to provide safe and reliable care, which can lead to a decline in patient volumes and community support.
Because of these risks, it’s really important for healthcare organizations to have plans for dealing with disruptions. These plans are called “business continuity plans.” They help organizations keep providing important services, even when things go wrong. Organizations should also practice and update their plans regularly to make sure they work well.
How Service Providers Can Support Continuity for their Healthcare Clients
Service providers for healthcare organizations—such as billing processors, IT companies, supply chain management companies, labs, and communications providers–can help keep operations running smoothly, even when things get a little bumpy. They do this by offering a various solutions that help address any disruptions that might come up. Here are some examples:
Emergency Response Plan
When working with the healthcare industry, it’s imperative to have a comprehensive emergency response plan that outlines the procedures to be followed in case of natural disasters, cyberattacks, or other disruptive events. This plan includes communication protocols, employee safety measures, and steps to ensure rapid recovery of services.
Incident Response & Business Continuity
Service providers can help healthcare organizations develop and implement incident response and business continuity plans that outline procedures for responding to disruptions and maintaining critical operations.
Cloud-Based Solutions
Companies that work with medical organizations can offer cloud-based tools that let client organizations store, access, and manage their data and apps from anywhere. This way, they can keep things going even if they can’t be at the physical location.
Data Backup & Disaster Recovery
Data and communications providers should offer data backup and disaster recovery solutions that ensure that critical healthcare data is protected and can be quickly restored in the event of a disaster or other disruption.
Cybersecurity
Every business associate knows the special level of security needed to safeguard patient information. That’s why they should incorporate set cybersecurity measures to protect covered entities from cyber threats and make sure sensitive patient information stays secure. Along with cybersecurity measures, there is a need for regular security testing and updates. Vulnerability scanning and penetration testing are two methods frequently used to identify potential weaknesses and areas for improvement. This allows service providers to fine-tune strategies and stay up to date with evolving threats and technologies.
Service Level Agreements (SLAs)
Formal documentation of service standards is the foundation of guaranteed quality and reliability. SLAs outline clear expectations for uptime, response times, and issue resolution, ensuring that healthcare organizations can rely on us to support their critical operations.
What Measures does PatientCalls take to Secure Healthcare Data?
At PatientCalls, we understand secure communication’s critical role in this industry, and we prioritize reliability and security as a physician answering service. We have put business continuity measures in place to ensure that our doctors answering service remains operational despite unexpected events or circumstances. Here are some key aspects of our business continuity plan:
- Redundant Infrastructure: Our medical answering service has multiple data centers strategically located in multiple geographic regions to minimize the risk of service disruption due to localized events. Our infrastructure is designed to maintain functionality even if one or more data centers is affected by a natural disaster, power shortage, or other type problem, ensuring uninterrupted service.
- Data Backup and Recovery: Our healthcare call center has implemented robust data backup and recovery protocols, with regular backups stored in secure, offsite locations. In case of data loss or corruption, our recovery process enables us to restore vital information swiftly and efficiently.
- Agent Training – Our medical answering call agents receive ongoing training in emergency response procedures, data protection, and cybersecurity best practices. This ensures that our staff is well-prepared to handle any situation that may arise.
- Call Answering Quality Control: PatientCalls is committed to maintaining high-quality medical office answering services through a series of quality control procedures. These procedures include daily monitoring of all calls to assess communication consistency and professionalism, periodic training and testing on HIPAA regulations, and the integration of daily training into the CRM application, which agents must acknowledge before ending their shifts. Additionally, PatientCalls compiles weekly reports to track key metrics, such as customer and caller satisfaction, efficiency, and adherence to company standards, to ensure continuous improvement in call management quality. Read PatientCalls’ Quality Control Assurances.
- Cybersecurity: Our call center infrastructure is protected by advanced cybersecurity measures, including firewalls, encryption, and multi-factor authentication. We also adhere to industry best practices and relevant regulatory requirements, such as HIPAA, to ensure the privacy and security of sensitive healthcare information. Read PatientCalls’ Full HIPAA Compliance Statement.
Our medical answering service takes pride in our commitment to supporting healthcare organizations and are confident that our business continuity measures will provide the reliability and peace of mind you require. If you have any further questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to reach out.
