A decade ago, losing the internet was an annoyance. Today, a facility using a cloud-based EHR, VoIP phones, electronic prescribing and telehealth can lose the ability to document care, call a pharmacy or reach a physician when its connection fails. For rural facilities in particular, a single line of service can be a single point of failure.
Internet redundancy means having a way to keep working when your primary connection goes down. Here is how to plan it.
List the services that stop working without internet:
Cloud EHR and eMAR access
VoIP phone service and fax
Pharmacy ordering and eprescribing
Telehealth visits
Email, scheduling and payroll
Remote monitoring or cloud-managed cameras and Wi-Fi
Resident Wi-Fi and entertainment
Then decide which are essential during an outage. The EHR and phones typically top the list. Resident Wi-Fi may be a lower priority and can be limited during failover to preserve bandwidth.
Two connections are only useful if they do not fail together. Consider differences in:
Provider: two accounts with the same company often share equipment upstream.
Technology: for example, cable or fiber for the primary and fixed wireless or cellular for the backup.
Physical path: ask whether the circuits enter the building at different points and whether they share poles or conduits.
Power: a backup that relies on a device with no battery fails with the first power flicker.
Ask providers about their service-level agreements, including how quickly they restore service and how outages are credited.
A firewall or router with two internet inputs detects an outage and shifts traffic automatically. This is the standard approach for care facilities because staff cannot wait for manual changes.
Both connections are used at the same time, sharing traffic, and either one can carry the load if the other fails. This can be cost effective but needs enough capacity on each.
A cellular modem can serve as a low-cost secondary path. Check signal strength inside and near the building, and understand data limits. It may be enough for the EHR and phones but not for streaming.
A backup link may be slower than the primary. Configure priorities so that clinical applications and voice traffic come first. Limit or pause resident streaming and non-essential updates when running on the backup.
If phone service travels over the internet, redundancy for data may not protect calls unless the phone system also supports failover. Ask your phone provider how they route calls during an internet outage. Options include automatic forwarding to mobile numbers, cellular-based backup or retaining a small number of traditional lines for emergencies.
Redundant connections still need power and stable hardware:
Put routers, firewalls and modems on an uninterruptible power supply.
Confirm the building generator powers the network closet and the equipment where lines enter.
Keep spare configuration backups for the firewall.
Label circuits and keep provider account numbers and support contacts easily available.
Failover that has never been tested often fails. Schedule a test outside peak hours by unplugging the primary line and confirming that the EHR, phones and critical systems keep working. Record how long failover took and fix any surprises. Repeat at least annually.
CMS emergency preparedness expectations and HIPAA contingency planning both point toward preparing for disruptions. Include an internet outage in your downtime procedures: who is notified, what staff switch to and how you communicate with the ISP.
UnityCare IT helps healthcare organizations evaluate circuit options, configure automatic failover and test the result. If you are not sure how your facility would function during an outage, we can map it out 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