Be Cyber Aware: Draft an Airtight EHR-Back-Up Plan

Why This Topic Matters

EHR interruptions can affect patient safety, clinical workflow, and operational continuity. Understanding contingency planning helps practices prepare staff and processes before an outage occurs.

Article Sections

1. Plan ahead for downtime

   Introduces the need for advance preparation, staff awareness, and practice drills for EHR outages. It frames downtime readiness as part of broader cybersecurity and disaster planning.

2. Patient safety priorities

   Discusses safety-focused planning areas to consider when an EHR is unavailable. The section emphasizes keeping essential clinical information accessible and maintaining core patient care workflows.

3. Operational continuity and paper fallback

   Covers backup approaches for scheduling, charting, forms, and other paper-based workflows during downtime. It also touches on maintaining departmental process continuity across the practice.

4. Federal guidance and SAFER resources

   References federal contingency planning guidance and related safety resources. The section places EHR unavailability in the context of recognized patient safety and operational risk.