Tuesday, July 12, 2011
PROTECT YOUR PRACTICE IN CASE OF A DISASTER
Although it seems impossible to protect your office from a disaster as large as what happened Japan, there are immediate and monthly measures you can take to mitigate damage caused by nature such as a fire, flood, hurricane, tornado or earthquake.
I hope you never need to use them.
Three main categories to protect are people, records and the future of your practice.
People
Your patients and staff are most important.
Although it is unlikely that you will remain in the office following a disaster, it may be the safest place. Have emergency flash lights, hard wired and cell phones, bottled water and basic non-perishable food supplies on hand.
Have a plan to contact employees if a disaster strikes before or after office hours. Store employees’ (and their contact person’s) phone numbers in a cell phone as well as on a printed list.
Have an out of town or out of state contact person for everyone to call since local phone lines and cell phone towers most likely will be affected. Long distance phone lines are often functioning before local infrastructure is repaired. During the Northridge earthquake my friend in Virginia served this purpose. Although we could not call each other, all of us could call her and she could call each of us. She also told us the extent of the damage since she was watching the coverage on TV and we had no power.
If your voice mail is working, you can change the message to inform your patients of the status of your office, i.e., open, closed or seeing patients elsewhere. You can change this as often as you need.
You can also use your practice web page to inform patients you are open or where to find you until you reopen and post a temporary telephone number. You can update it frequently.
Records
If you have electronic medical records or a web based billing system, your records may be safe. to your providers about back up solutions and their disaster plans. For example, California businesses whose web servers were in those southern states were affected by Katrina.
Future of Your Practice
To safeguard the future of your practice, storing copies of your records off site is your best protection. Have a safe deposit box at least one hour away for flash drives, discs, tapes and photocopies of important papers.
Back up your computer daily. Video your entire office to show the major equipment, furnishings and wall decorations and their condition for insurance purposes.
Store the tape in the safe deposit box and mail a copy to a trusted friend or relative who lives far away.
There are other ways to retrieve lost records. Third party payors have some of your billing data. The Internal Revenue Service, your banks, equipment leasing and insurance companies have your financial and equipment data.
PROTECTING DATA
Store in a safe deposit box one hour away -
copies of important papers; leases, licenses, managed care contracts, tax returns, corporation documents, insurance policies
phone numbers and Email addresses of referring physicians, vendors, advisors
detailed aged accounts receivable year end back up
checking accounts year end back up
video or photos of office equipment, furnishings and decorations
Store in your home
one month advance printouts of appointment schedules
printout of employees’ phone numbers and contact person’s
printout of referring physicians’ phone numbers
aged accounts receivable daily back up
checking accounts daily back up
phone numbers and Email addresses for staff, hospital departments, doctors, vendors and advisors
YOU HAVE INDIRECT BACK UP
third party payors
hospitals
labs
surgery centers
IRS
banks
CPA
attorneys
If you follow all these steps, survival and recovery of your practice should be assured.
Basic Disaster Preparedness Kit
Flash lights with fresh batteries
Spare bulbs for flashlights
Portable radio with fresh batteries (and hand cranked back up)
Packs of fresh batteries
Basic First Aid Kit
Bottled water sufficient for you, your staff and patients for at least 24 hours
Packaged foods (crackers, pretzels, nuts, dried fruits, hard candies)
Canned foods (tuna, salmon, fruits, cheese spreads)
Can openers, hand operated
Candles
Matches
Kleenex
Toilet paper
Paper towels
Baby wipes
Packets of eye glasses cleaning wipes (can be used as an antiseptic)
Blankets
Extra pair of glasses
Basic toiletries (bars of soap, wash cloths, toothpaste, tooth brushes)
Phone numbers for each staff member stored in a cell phone and on a print out
A print out of phone numbers for your and each of your staff’s family members and neighbors
Phone number of out of town contact person in cell phone and on print out
Cash
Note: The American Red Cross web page has more detailed lists.
I hope you never need to use them.
Three main categories to protect are people, records and the future of your practice.
People
Your patients and staff are most important.
Although it is unlikely that you will remain in the office following a disaster, it may be the safest place. Have emergency flash lights, hard wired and cell phones, bottled water and basic non-perishable food supplies on hand.
Have a plan to contact employees if a disaster strikes before or after office hours. Store employees’ (and their contact person’s) phone numbers in a cell phone as well as on a printed list.
Have an out of town or out of state contact person for everyone to call since local phone lines and cell phone towers most likely will be affected. Long distance phone lines are often functioning before local infrastructure is repaired. During the Northridge earthquake my friend in Virginia served this purpose. Although we could not call each other, all of us could call her and she could call each of us. She also told us the extent of the damage since she was watching the coverage on TV and we had no power.
If your voice mail is working, you can change the message to inform your patients of the status of your office, i.e., open, closed or seeing patients elsewhere. You can change this as often as you need.
You can also use your practice web page to inform patients you are open or where to find you until you reopen and post a temporary telephone number. You can update it frequently.
Records
If you have electronic medical records or a web based billing system, your records may be safe. to your providers about back up solutions and their disaster plans. For example, California businesses whose web servers were in those southern states were affected by Katrina.
Future of Your Practice
To safeguard the future of your practice, storing copies of your records off site is your best protection. Have a safe deposit box at least one hour away for flash drives, discs, tapes and photocopies of important papers.
Back up your computer daily. Video your entire office to show the major equipment, furnishings and wall decorations and their condition for insurance purposes.
Store the tape in the safe deposit box and mail a copy to a trusted friend or relative who lives far away.
There are other ways to retrieve lost records. Third party payors have some of your billing data. The Internal Revenue Service, your banks, equipment leasing and insurance companies have your financial and equipment data.
PROTECTING DATA
Store in a safe deposit box one hour away -
copies of important papers; leases, licenses, managed care contracts, tax returns, corporation documents, insurance policies
phone numbers and Email addresses of referring physicians, vendors, advisors
detailed aged accounts receivable year end back up
checking accounts year end back up
video or photos of office equipment, furnishings and decorations
Store in your home
one month advance printouts of appointment schedules
printout of employees’ phone numbers and contact person’s
printout of referring physicians’ phone numbers
aged accounts receivable daily back up
checking accounts daily back up
phone numbers and Email addresses for staff, hospital departments, doctors, vendors and advisors
YOU HAVE INDIRECT BACK UP
third party payors
hospitals
labs
surgery centers
IRS
banks
CPA
attorneys
If you follow all these steps, survival and recovery of your practice should be assured.
Basic Disaster Preparedness Kit
Flash lights with fresh batteries
Spare bulbs for flashlights
Portable radio with fresh batteries (and hand cranked back up)
Packs of fresh batteries
Basic First Aid Kit
Bottled water sufficient for you, your staff and patients for at least 24 hours
Packaged foods (crackers, pretzels, nuts, dried fruits, hard candies)
Canned foods (tuna, salmon, fruits, cheese spreads)
Can openers, hand operated
Candles
Matches
Kleenex
Toilet paper
Paper towels
Baby wipes
Packets of eye glasses cleaning wipes (can be used as an antiseptic)
Blankets
Extra pair of glasses
Basic toiletries (bars of soap, wash cloths, toothpaste, tooth brushes)
Phone numbers for each staff member stored in a cell phone and on a print out
A print out of phone numbers for your and each of your staff’s family members and neighbors
Phone number of out of town contact person in cell phone and on print out
Cash
Note: The American Red Cross web page has more detailed lists.
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