Posted by: Robert Markette
February 17, 2007

After two days working at my kitchen table, I returned to the office. Our firm is located in Indianapolis and the city spent Tuesday and Wednesday digging out from under the snow. The snow storm and its effects on the area are what lead me to todays post. The response to the snow storm had me wondering how home health agencies contingency plans were working.

For agencies within Indianapolis, even on Tuesday, as the snow was piling up, it was possible, although not advisable, to get to he office as necessary. For example, to access files. However, in some of the northern counties, I understand it may not have been possible at all. There werent any stories related directly to health care, but I did see in the paper how a few other businesses responded. For example, a local realtor rescheduled a client meeting to a local coffee shop, because it was accessible whereas the clients house was not very accessible at all.

For home health agencies in the Midwest, blizzards should be considered in your contingency planning. If roads are impassable, how do you access patient files? How do you serve your patients? For the latter, unless a patient cannot survive without services, a blizzard most likely means a missed visit and then a follow up as soon as possible. But what if a patient has to be seen? What if the blizzard is accompanied by heavy ice? That can lead to power outages and other problems.

If a blizzard leads to your power being down, it may be down for weeks. My wife, who grew up in Tennessee, spent ten days without electricity one winter because an ice storm/blizzard knocked so many of the power lines in her area down. In a case like this, an agency will need to consider how to operate until the power is restored. This may include an alternate office location.

I know of a business here in Indianapolis that was forced to relocate its offices for six weeks, because of a flood. The flooding wiped out all of its IT and rendered its offices unusable. The time to plan for that type of emergency is before it happens, not after it happens. Even if it is not a likely occurrence, it is still something to think about sooner rather than later.

Having to relocate information systems and other administrative equipment while also digging out from under the snow can be very difficult. Failing to have a plan in place in advance will only delay getting things back to normal even farther.

For our firm, the contingency plan is very simple take your laptop and files home with you. But that plan wont work for most agencies. If you found yourself trying to come up with a contingency plan on Monday night, maybe now is a good time to plan for future contingencies.

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