DISASTER PLAN

Hospital Management Disaster Plan and Security

[Name of the Institute]Executive Summary

Disasters can turn hospitals into casualties. They serve valiantly only to suffer greatly, losing millions of dollars in revenue and valuable equipment, and sometimes shutting down for extended periods. Coping effectively with a disaster can minimize its financial impact. Managing effectively requires secure, powerful, and reliable communication pathways. Increasingly, that technology is the Internet and software tools developed to help hospitals prepare for, respond to, and recover from disasters. The Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations is calling for disaster management programs that include scalable models for community preparedness, 48- to 72-hour standalone capability, and provision for robust communications with disaster response agencies. Senior financial executives should check with the hospital's disaster or emergency coordinator to determine whether disaster management software systems have been evaluated for use in their facility. Using Internet-based disaster management technology can help hospitals better control both operations and the revenue cycle during a mass casualty event.

Hospital Management Disaster Plan and Security

Introduction

Atlanta medical Hospital treated 1,500 people who were injured in the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attack on the World Trade Center and its aftermath. Located less than five blocks from Ground Zero, the hospital functioned despite a loss of electricity, steam, gas, and phone service, as well as low water pressure. The hospital received international recognition for its response to the disaster. Yet it had been overwhelmed with more patients than it could track (1,200 on the first day) and lost $82 million in revenue (Lewis, 1996, pp. 439).

Five named storms hit Florida in a six-week period in 2004, leaving many area hospitals devastated financially. According to the Atlanta Hospital Association, these storms were responsible for more than $67 million in damages to hospitals, $51 million in lost revenue from the delay of patient services, and $5 million in lost revenue related to patient transfers, care for the uninsured, and sheltering special-needs patients. The costs associated with hospital staffing during the storms totaled more than $89 million, including nearly $24 million in overtime.

After Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast in 2005, some hospitals were damaged beyond repair. Hospitals that remained open or were forced to close temporarily and those that have since reopened have realized enormous financial impacts associated with building and equipment damage, lost supplies, overtime expense, and special-needs sheltering.

Disasters can turn hospitals into casualties. They serve valiantly only to suffer greatly, losing millions of dollars in revenue and valuable equipment, and sometimes shutting down for extended periods. Coping effectively with a disaster can minimize its financial impact. Managing effectively requires secure, powerful, and reliable communication pathways. Increasingly, that technology is the Internet and software tools developed to help hospitals prepare for, respond to, and recover from disasters.

When a computer security incident or other unforeseen event, including natural and human-caused disasters, occurs that results in a loss of data, recovery from the incident or event requires up-to-date backups and proven methods of restoring the data. This section contains guidance on the categorization, frequency, ...