Disaster Recovery Journal

By Sameer Sule

I am sure that you have heard words like contingency planning and disaster recovery planning. Basically they refer to your preparedness in dealing with unforeseen disasters, whether they are natural disasters or common work place disruptions like power failure, computer/server crashes, internet outage etc. You probably also know all the business reasons, as well as the federal privacy and security requirements that make having a  Contingency Plan a prudent investment. 
As a healthcare provider, your primary goal is providing the highest quality of care for your patients. So, how does a contingency plan benefit your patients? If I was your patient, would knowing the fact that you have a backup and disaster recovery (BDR) solution in place, change my perception of you as a good healthcare provider? Absolutely! It would definitely improve my perception about you and your practice. 
First, I would feel secure in the knowledge that my medical/dental records are safely backed up and available in the case of an emergency. I would be confident that my data wouldn’t be lost even if there is a disaster at my healthcare providers’ office. Just imagine how upset parents would be when they find out that their child’s healthcare provider just lost all their child’s records in a disaster. Imagine not having a copy of their young child’s records at home and not being able to get access to them. Imagine the hassle they may have to go through to prove that their child received the vaccines, for entrance into a school. It would be devastating and would certainly keep me from wanting to return to that medical practice in the future. This could have social, financial, and legal implications for the provider. There are huge losses at stake when care is not taken to ensure protected health information is stored and secure. 
Providing quality care doesn’t just mean being the best doctor or dentist or therapist, it also means exercising the same care and effort in ensuring that patient data is secure, is regularly backed up and can be easily restored without errors after a disaster. Implementing a contingency plan or a BDR solution is well worth the investment and will go a long way in providing continuity of patient care at all times.  It will give you the peace of mind knowing that you can continue your regular workflow even after an unforeseen disruption. More importantly it will increase your patients confidence in your practice and will reinforce their belief that you care about them. The last thing I would want to deal with when I need medical care is finding out that my health records are not available. Having a contingency plan in place is another step towards providing the highest quality of patient care. It is a win-win scenario for both you and your patients.

Sameer Sule is a Business Technology Consultant at Kinara Insights, a company providing contingency/disaster recovery planning services to doctors, dentists and healthcare practices. He helps his clients understand and use technology to reduce practice downtime, increase efficiency and improve quality of patient care.

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