Electronic Health Records (EHR) have become integral to healthcare facilities worldwide. However, EHR downtimes remain a significant concern, threatening patient care and hospital operations. From human error to cyber-attacks, they can happen for various reasons, and their impact can be devastating. As a healthcare facility owner, understanding the frequency and cost of EHR downtime is crucial. Here, we highlight the frequency of unplanned and planned outages and how to reduce the impact of hospital downtime.
Unplanned Downtime vs. Scheduled Downtime: Why and How Often it Happens
In most cases, planned downtime occurs monthly or quarterly due to scheduled network updates, security patches, and EHR updates. Though operations may be disrupted, hospitals have contingency plans for these outages, minimizing their impact. On the other hand, unplanned downtime is any interruption that was not intentionally scheduled. In these cases, hospitals may need more preparation, and operations can come to a standstill.
Unplanned EHR downtime can be caused by several factors, such as:
- Malware attacks
- Hardware failure
- Software issues
- Power outages
- Natural disasters
- Network issues
With the downtime cost per minute ranging from $5,300 to $9,000 , the financial impact of an EHR downtime can be significant. Even minor outages can result in financial and operational losses.
Why One EHR Downtime Can Set Your Hospital Back Significantly
An EHR downtime can halt patient care and put lives at risk. Access to real-time records is necessary for hospital staff to read up-to-date treatment reports, prescription histories, and allergy information, among other patient health data. This can cause fatal errors and prolonged hospital stays, leading to more extended recovery periods.
Additionally, downtime can lead to revenue loss due to reduced service delivery as a result of not being able to access necessary data. Recovering the data collected during downtime can be cumbersome and stressful when relying on paper-based solutions. In some cases, the lost data may never return to the EHR, leading to inconsistencies in the patient record.
How to Mitigate the Impact of EHR Downtime
dbtech offers comprehensive downtime solutions that ensure that your electronic workflows are always available during an EHR downtime. Our solutions eliminate paper-based processes and manual data entry, reducing the likelihood of errors in patient data handling. Additionally, our solution cuts down recovery time, ensuring minimal impact on operations and patients. Our innovative approaches have successfully reduced EHR downtime risks for several healthcare facilities.
Contact dbtech for Reliable EHR Downtime Solutions
EHR downtimes remain a significant concern for healthcare facilities in the world. The frequency, cost, and impact call for mitigation measures through comprehensive downtime solutions. At dbtech, we can help you mitigate the impact of EHR downtimes by providing innovative solutions that reduce recovery time and eliminate paper-based processes. Contact us today to learn more about how to overcome EHR downtime and experience speedy recovery.