As more electronic medical record systems move to the cloud, a facility's internet connection becomes as important as its electricity. When the connection goes down, staff may not be able to view medication orders, document care or reach the pharmacy portal. A construction crew cutting a fiber line or a carrier outage can turn into a clinical problem within minutes.
Redundancy is the practice of having more than one path so that a single failure does not stop operations. Here is how to think about it for a long-term care facility or clinic.
Start by listing the systems that need internet access and how critical each one is.
EMR and medication administration records
eMAR, pharmacy and lab portals
eFax and secure messaging
Telehealth visits
Voice over IP phones
Nurse call or alerting platforms with cloud components
Payroll, billing and clearinghouse access
Door access, cameras and building controls with cloud management
Ask clinical leadership how long each function can be down before care is affected, and what manual workarounds exist. This is your recovery time objective in plain terms.
The most common approach is a primary connection plus a secondary connection from a different provider. Ideally the two use different physical paths into the building, because two carriers that share the same buried conduit may fail together. Ask each provider where its facilities run, and have your IT provider confirm that the building entrances are separate.
A mix of connection types improves resilience.
Fiber or dedicated business lines for the primary connection, usually with service level commitments
Cable broadband as a lower-cost secondary
Fixed wireless or 5G/LTE cellular failover as a tertiary or emergency path, independent of the local wired infrastructure
Cellular failover is often easy to add and can keep core systems running at reduced speed. Check bandwidth limits and data caps, and test that your key applications work over it.
Equipment matters as much as circuits. A firewall or SD-WAN router that monitors both connections and switches automatically when one fails prevents the need for someone to run to the network closet. Configure health checks that test real reachability to the services you need, not just whether the link light is on.
A second internet circuit will not help if the single switch or firewall behind it fails.
Use redundant firewalls where the budget allows, or keep a configured spare ready
Protect network equipment with uninterruptible power supplies, and test them
Make sure generator coverage extends to network closets, and that cooling is included
Label cables and keep updated diagrams in a printed binder
If your phones use voice over IP, an internet outage can also take down phone service. Arrange automatic call forwarding to cell phones, keep a few analog lines or cellular backup where appropriate, and confirm that emergency calling works during failover.
Technology reduces outages but does not eliminate them. Have a written plan that covers:
Who declares downtime and who is notified
Paper forms for medication administration, vitals and nursing notes
Printed or offline copies of essential resident information, such as current medication lists and emergency contacts, stored securely
A way to enter records afterward and verify them
Contact numbers for carriers, IT support and the EMR vendor
This supports both HIPAA contingency planning requirements and CMS emergency preparedness expectations for long-term care facilities. Practice the procedure on a quiet shift so staff feel comfortable.
Schedule failover tests, with leadership approval, at least twice a year.
Pull the primary connection and confirm that the secondary takes over
Time how long failover takes and what staff notice
Verify that VPNs, cloud applications and VoIP reconnect
Restore the primary and confirm a clean switch back
Document the results and fix anything that failed.
A secondary connection typically costs a modest monthly amount compared with the cost of lost productivity and delayed care. Weigh it against the number of staff who rely on cloud applications at any hour. Many facilities start with a cellular failover and later add a second wired carrier.
UnityCare IT designs resilient connectivity for healthcare facilities, including carrier selection, automatic failover and downtime planning. If a single connection is your single point of failure, we can help you map out options.
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