Judging by the consequences of the flooding, there is a high chance some steps might have been missed during the planning and implementation of the Electronic Health Record (EHR) in Fountain View Hospice. First, the copy of the Hospice’s EHR application as a hot site was not created and given to the vendor (Sayles & Kavanaugh-Burke, 2018). That missed step is the primary reason the flood led to such a significant problem, as the Hospice now has to use many resources to improve the situation. In addition, Fountain View Hospice now has to manage the paper health record instead of utilizing EHR at least for a year or even more (Sayles & Kavanaugh-Burke, 2018). The facility’s inability to use EHR can considerably decrease its effectiveness and general performance, which, in turn, can lead to adverse patient outcomes or unsatisfactory levels of services. The inaccurate and incomplete implementation of the EHR application as a hot site has caused severe issues, and the Hospice has to deal with the consequences.
However, there are ways to improve planning during the full implementation of the EHR and prevent the occurrence of similar issues. For example, Fountain View Hospice should acquire contracts with restoration organizations (Sayles & Kavanaugh-Burke, 2018). Such companies can react quickly and help restore the damage from natural disasters, including floods. Furthermore, as mentioned previously, a copy of the EHR application should be created and stored with the backup files, far enough from the location where the original disk is stored (Sayles & Kavanaugh-Burke, 2018). That measure can be helpful in case the data cannot be restored after a particular disaster. Fountain View Hospice can use these recommendations to improve its planning and data security.
Reference
Sayles, N. B., & Kavanaugh-Burke, L. (2021). Introduction to information systems for health information technology (4th ed.). AHIMA Press.