IT-Business Continuity Program
In a hospital or medical center, to promote efficiency, all management systems are ideally IT-enabled. IT-enabled management systems, particularly IT-enabled documented information management system, will also promote business continuity program in that the IT-back-up documents and records can be used instantly for continued operations and services.
Documented information, as defined by ISO 9001:2015, as those documents, records, data, and information created and compiled by the medical center in the process of installing an operation system and providing services.
The roles IT play in business continuity program of a medical center consist of the following:
Use of the IT to facilitate business continuity program (to continue to provide critical services soon after a disaster) – specifically, to digitalize all documented information of the medical center and have a control and back-up system.
Use of the IT-backup documented information system to get back to business as usual after a disruption of services during an internal disaster.
The essential documented information that need to be digitalized and backed-up for business continuity purposes by the Department of IT are the following:
Finance Documented Information
Human Resource Documented Information
Medical Records
Patient Daily Transactions Records (Hospital Information Management System)
Ideally, all the documented information of all the business units of the medical center should also be digitalized and backed-up for business continuity purposes. These should be done by the respective business units with assistance to be provided by the Department of IT.
The general processes and procedures involved in the IT-business continuity program for documented information consist of the following:
Digitalize all documented information.
Have a control and back-up system for digitalized documented information (onsite and off-site back-up).
Have effective and efficient procedures of using the back-up system right away when there is an internal disaster that disrupts the operations and services of the medical center.
Example:
Internal disaster strikes the medical center with disruption of electricity and destruction of hard copies of documented information.
Get IT-back-up of documented information.
If there is electricity in the medical center, use directly the IT-back-up of documented information through whatever computers are available or still functional.
If there is no electricity in the medical center, use IT-back-up of documented information in other sites with electricity. Then, print-out the needed documented information for use in continued operations and services.
NOTE: The specific action plans have to be spelled out by the Department of IT.
The action plans should include the following information:
Decision on what documented information that need to be digitalized for business continuity purposes
How was digitalization of documented information done
What control of documented information was done
How the back-up systems of documented information were done
How to get and use the back-up systems of documented information when there is an internal disaster
What are the criteria of performance excellence on IT-business continuity program for documented information (timely, such as within 24 hours; essentially complete; etc.)