Storms, fires, power failures, ransomware and equipment breakdowns do not announce themselves. When one hits a care facility, the question is not only how fast the computers come back. It is whether staff can keep giving medications, documenting care and reaching families while they do.
Disaster recovery planning is the technology side of that readiness. It sits alongside the emergency preparedness plan that CMS requires of long-term care facilities, and it is also tied to the contingency plan standard in the HIPAA Security Rule, which calls for data backup, disaster recovery and emergency mode operation plans. A small facility does not need a hundred-page binder. It needs a clear, tested plan that people can follow under stress.
List your systems and rank them by how quickly you need them back. A simple grouping works well:
Tier 1, needed immediately: EHR and medication management, phone and nurse call integrations, internet, door access if electronic
Tier 2, needed within a day or two: email, file shares, scheduling, eFax
Tier 3, can wait several days: archived files, noncritical applications
Involve your administrator, DON and business office manager. They know which interruptions hurt most.
Think through realistic scenarios for your location and region, such as:
Severe weather and extended power loss
Fire or water damage in the server or network closet
Ransomware or other malicious attack
Internet provider outage
Failure of a key server, switch or firewall
Loss of a vendor or hosted application
In Oklahoma, Texas and Arkansas, severe storms and tornadoes deserve a prominent place on this list.
For each tier, decide how long you can be down and how much recent data you can afford to lose. These numbers drive decisions about backups, redundant equipment and hosted services. Be realistic about budget as well. Not every system needs instant failover, but the most critical ones may justify extra investment.
The plan should be supported by real capabilities:
Regular, tested backups with an off-site or cloud copy
Battery backups and, where appropriate, generator-supported power for network equipment
A secondary internet connection or cellular failover for key functions
Spare equipment, such as a switch, firewall or workstation, or a vendor who can deliver quickly
Cloud-hosted systems where it makes sense, which can stay available when your building cannot
Documented configurations for network devices so they can be rebuilt
This is the part most often neglected. Staff should know exactly what to do when the system is unavailable:
Printed copies of current medication administration records and resident census, updated on a schedule
Paper forms for charting and incident reports
Contact lists for staff, physicians, pharmacies and families
A process for entering information into the system once it returns
Keep these in a location that does not depend on the network, such as a binder at each nursing station.
Write down who is in charge, who calls the IT provider, who communicates with staff and families, and who decides when to switch to downtime procedures. Include after-hours phone numbers for your IT provider, internet carrier, EHR vendor and phone vendor. Keep a printed copy off-site or with the administrator.
A plan that has never been tested is a theory. Try these approaches:
Restore data from backup and time the process
Run a short downtime drill on a quiet shift
Hold a tabletop exercise where leaders talk through a scenario
Review lessons learned and update the plan afterward
Update the plan at least annually and whenever systems, vendors or key staff change. Outdated phone numbers and retired systems are common weak points.
Backups exist but nobody knows how long a restore takes
Downtime forms are outdated or missing
The only copy of the plan is on a server that would be down
Vendor contacts were never confirmed
Staff have never practiced the paper process
UnityCare IT helps care organizations design practical disaster recovery plans, build the supporting infrastructure and run restore tests. If you would like a second set of eyes on your current plan, we are glad to review it with you.
Call or text: 405-285-3845
New customers: start@unitycareit.com
Existing customers: support@unitycareit.com
Address: UnityCare Technologies, 2524 N Broadway Ste 554, PMB 947974, Edmond, Oklahoma 73034-4172