In healthcare facilities and hospitals, unplanned, planned and network downtime occurs. Sometimes to maintain the system, healthcare staff often hold planned downtimes, which is not a big deal, as everything is sorted out ahead of time. However, unpredictable and unplanned downtimes can wreak havoc on a healthcare organization. To tackle the issues that can arise from downtime, hospitals need to put a downtime solution in place. In this blog, we will discuss the issues that can arise without a downtime solution.
Productivity Shortfall
The drastic shortfall in productivity with downtime can be eye-opening for healthcare facilities. Downtime can disable the medical staff from performing crucial tasks and patient onboarding that are needed to simply run the facility and provide patient care. By having to re-enter data after a downtime occurs and duplicating efforts during and post downtime events, teams lose out on significant time and money. In fact, according to NetTech Consultants, it can cause a $138,200 loss in end-user productivity. That’s why preventing downtime and laying out downtime solutions are critical for productivity.
Insufficient Patient Care
When healthcare facilities plan anything, health and safety of patients are the top priorities. But with a downtime event, in the absence of access to crucial information and records, routine check-ups can be disrupted. Coping with this aspect is the greatest challenge for hospitals. Simple tasks like locating which bed a patient is in or printing wristbands for newly admitted patients become challenging tasks. The inability to complete every day patient care during a downtime event can lead to increased errors and patient safety.
Costly Recovery
Downtime events can be complete disasters for a medical facility. Retrieving or accessing records that were missed in a downtime event can be as costly as creating a new system. If a massive downtime event occurs with these repercussions, the hospital reputation can be at risk. After a hospital is back up and running, it will require at least two to three times the amount of time to re-enter data and recover from the event than the amount of downtime. This can be a costly and additional burden on the medical staff.
Reputation Damage
Losing customer support and loyalty can be disastrous for healthcare institutes. Healthcare facilities spend years creating their reputable and respectable name, and, in a few days and weeks, all can be spoiled if a major downtime event occurs. Medical facilities do not want to be known for poor patient care or loss of resources and patient records. After that occurs, regaining the trust of patients, their families and hospital employees can be challenging. Downtime is a heavy blow to hospitals, and finding a suitable solution for downtime is indispensable for the success of the hospitals.
Lost Data
Downtime events can become a tragic incident for healthcare facilities. Without a robust downtime solution, healthcare institutes can face a drastic setback with a loss of data. Healthcare Dive states that Hospitals usually regain 30% of the lost data, but in hindsight that leaves 70% of data lost or unaccounted for. Data compromisation is yet another issue healthcare facilities can face without a proper downtime solution. In fact, according to Healthcare Dive, in 2017 the Children’s Medical Center of Dallas was fined $3.2 million dollars after a data breach due to the lack of protection and systems in place. With an adequate downtime solution, the downside of downtime can be mitigated.
No healthcare facility wants to face challenges during or after a downtime event. System downtime is not unusual which is why it’s critical for your hospital to find a proper downtime solution before one of these events takes place. Without a partner versed in downtime solutions, the cost and time wasted will be high. At dbtech, our EHR downtime solution increases patient safety, allows patient workflows to continue, reduces errors and saves money and time. To learn more, schedule time with our team.