Over the past few years, many natural disasters have hit the United States that have had direct impacts on healthcare organizations such as the direct hit on the hospital by a tornado in Joplin, Missouri or flooding that leaked into a hospital in Duluth, Minnesota. What about a loss of power to an organization or bad network connection? Healthcare has also seen a drastic increase in the number of ransomware attacks, which block an organization’s ability to access patient data. When disasters happen and impact access to patient information, it is easy for the healthcare organization to panic and not know what to do. We all know how vital it is to treat patients with the most up to date and current information so planning becomes essential to prepare your organization for disasters and emergencies.
The HIPAA Security Rule requires that healthcare organizations create a contingency plan to follow in the event of a disaster or loss of access to protected health information. Under the HIPAA Security Requirement, a contingency plan should consist of the following:
The other big task with a contingency plan is to train the workforce. Your workforce should know and understand the processes in the event that the information becomes unavailable or your network is blocked off by a hacker. Workforce members should feel confident and comfortable with the process of working in emergency mode and having access to minimal, if not no information.
A contingency plan doesn’t have to be complex, but it should be written. In a recent discussion with a Senior Underwriter for Cybersecurity Insurance, he stated that he asks for the organization emergency preparedness plan when assessing and processing a cybersecurity insurance quote.
Don’t assume nothing will happen to your organization. Some plan is better than no plan so start having the conversation and creating the processes now. Also, make sure you take time to test the process to ensure that it works effectively for your organization. You want to feel confident regarding your plan so that if the unthinkable happens, you are prepared.
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