Contingency Plans Related to Disaster Recovery

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Most health care providers currently utilize electronic health records (EHRs), or will in the coming future. Network collapses, glitches, power outages and flaws within the system all have the possibility of occurring. Due to the plethora of sensitive information contained within the health care field, health care providers need to form backup plans. These backup plans will serve as preventative measures in order to keep the integrity of the health care data intact. Therefore, contingency plans are a clear necessity within the field. Having a background in Information Technology and network security, I find the concept of contingency plans to be very intriguing. In the health care field, data is especially sensitive as it contains all personal patient information. Being that this sensitive data is widespread throughout the health care system; contingency plans prove to be an ideal asset to the field. They provide the security which is undoubtedly needed in order to maintain the integrity of the data. Additionally they aid in sustaining patient satisfaction, as well as overall quality of care. In order to fully understand the concept of a contingency plan, there are a few aspects which need to be explored. We must first define what a contingency plan is, followed by an explanation of why contingency plans are so valuable. Furthermore, an analysis of the implementation of contingency plans should be performed. Lastly, a comparison of such plans from other industries should be done, in order to comprehend the differences in both purpose and criteria. In regards to contingency planning, there are two key definitions. A contingency plan itself is “A plan used by an organization or business unit to respond to a specific systems failu... ... middle of paper ... ...w.healthcare-informatics.com/article/hospitals-prepared-hurricane-sandy-bolstering-infrastructure>. Pham, Thu. "Components of a HIPAA Compliant IT Contingency Plan." OnLINE TECH. Online Tech., 19 June 2013. Web. 22 Mar. 2014. . Rupp, Scott. "What’s Your Plan? Cloud as Disaster Recovery for Healthcare IT and Healthcare Consultants." Electronic Health Reporter. Millerrupp, LLC, 23 May 2013. Web. 25 Mar. 2014. . Steciw, Anne. "FAQ: Disaster Recovery Planning for Health Care Data." FAQ: Disaster Recovery Planning for Health Care Data. TechTarget, n.d. Web. 23 Mar. 2014. .

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