Utilizing Your

Business Continuity

Plan

Key Terms

• Business Continuity Plan (BCP) – A comprehensive written plan to maintain or resume business in the event of a disruption

• Critical Process – Business activity or information which could not be interrupted or unavailable for several business days without significantly jeopardizing operation of the organization

• Recovery Time Objective (RTO) – The maximum amount of downtime that is allowable for a critical process before the impact becomes severe enough to drastically hinder patient safety and/or stop the continuation of business services

• Recovery Time Actual (RTA) – The actual time it takes to restore an IS application

• Critical Records – Records or documents that, for legal, regulatory, or operational reasons, cannot be irretrievably lost or damaged without materially impairing the organization’s ability to conduct business

Why Have a BCP?

• Purpose: – The ultimate goal of Business Continuity Planning

is to resume business functions to a normal state after a period of time post event

Why Have a BCP?

• Benefits– Continuation of patient services– Fulfill moral responsibility to protect:

Employees The community The environment

– Facilitates compliance with regulatory requirements

Why Have a BCP?

• Enhances ability to reduce:– Disruptions to service delivery

– Financial losses

– Regulatory fines

– Loss of market share

– Damages to equipment

What is it?

• The Business Continuity Plan is a dynamic tool utilized to maintain and/or resume business operations

• Provides information regarding:– Critical Business Processes

– Critical Equipment and Resources

– IS Applications

– Staff Positions

– Critical Records

– Departmental Dependencies

When Do You Use the BCP?

• The BCP will be used in emergencies and other catastrophic events where the building or a department is severely impacted:– The loss of service poses significant physical,

operational, and business challenges and risks– Continuity of the service, somewhere within the facility,

is integral to ongoing facility viability and community support

• The BCP will be used in addition to the Emergency Operations Plan (EOP) to resume/return business functions to a normal state post-disaster

The BCP Tool

The Business Continuity Plan Tool is segmented into multiple Microsoft Excel tabs:• The Tiers tab– Critical Processes are

prioritized into tiers based on operational periods: Tier 1 (0-2 hours) Tier 2 (2-12 hours) Tier 3 (12-24 hours) Tier 4 (1-3 days) Tier 5 (4-7 days) Tier 6 (8-14 days) Tier 7 (15-30 days) Tier 8 (31+ days)

– Within each tier critical business processes are prioritized to rank their order of importance

• The Department Tab– Lists the specific critical business

processes and resources needed to provide patient care and continue operations

BCP: Tiers Tab

• Each Tier lists departments alphabetically and prioritizes their critical business functions

• During an incident, the Tiers Tab can be used as a worksheet to track which critical business processes are operational and if work-arounds are available

• The prioritization of critical business functions aids the Incident Commander, the Planning Section Chief, and the Business Continuity Branch Director in establishing operational objectives and identifying resources

BCP: Department Tab

Department specific information can be accessed two ways:

1. Navigate to the name of the department to open specific department tab

– For example, to go to the Emergency Department, click on the Emergency Department link (circled in green)

2. Use the Excel tabs– Click on the desired department at

the bottom of Excel to open (orange circle)

3. Print Entire Workbook– Click on the Print All Worksheets

button to print all the department worksheets (blue square)

* Hard copies, electronic copies, or intranet copies are also available through the Emergency Management Coordinator

BCP: Critical Business Processes

• This view provides:– Business Processes– Established priorities– RTO Tiers

• During an incident, the Tiers Tab can also be used as a worksheet to track which critical business processes are operational and if work arounds are available

• Can print specific section by clicking on the Print Critical Bus. Process button

BCP: Critical Equipment or Resources

• This view denotes what equipment/resources are needed to ensure critical processes are operational within specified operational periods and includes:– Type of Equipment– Normal Levels– RTOs

• During the incident, this worksheet can be used to:– Assess gaps between current

inventory and actual need– Evaluate relocation strategies

• To print this specific section click on the print button

BCP: IS Technology Applications

• This section lists the IS technology needs for the departments− IS Resources− Work around availability− RTO Tiers− RTA

• During the incident, the worksheet can be completed to:− Estimate IS Resources

needed − Assess technology gaps

• Print by clicking the print button

Print IS Technology Applications

BCP: Staff Positions

• This view lists the staff required for each operational period:–Staffing positions required based on RTO–Identifies whether the staffing position has to be physically

present or can telecommute• During the incident, worksheet can be used to:

–Track staffing requirements and assess gaps • Click on the Print Staffing Positions button to print this

specific section

BCP: Critical Records

• Section lists the Critical Records required for that department: – Type of Record– Relevance of records– Media Type– Physical Protection– Alternate or Backup Source– Function Without– Have Downtime Manual– Regulatory Requirements– Reporting Agency– Reporting Scheduling– RTO requirements

• During the incident, worksheet can be used to:− Track critical records requirements and

assess gaps

• Print specific section by clicking on the Print Critical Records button

BCP: Departmental Dependencies

• This view provides a list of

“other” departments that are needed to ensure that the critical process is operational,

• Information includes:– Internal vs. external– Location– Contact information

• Print this section by clicking on the Print Dependencies button

How to Use the BCP: Concept of Operations

Upon activation of HICS:• The IC will:

– Provide initial briefing to Command Staff & Section Chiefs– Facilitate a management meeting utilizing the Incident

Response Guide (IRG) to establish control objectives•Each department will assess the status of their area todetermine continuity of operations by completing a Department Status Form

– Upon completion, the form will be submitted to the Planning Chief.

– The Planning Section will collect the Department Status Forms and utilize the Department Status Summary form to report

information to the Incident Commander.

• Department Status Form− Purpose: Documents

operational status of departments: # of injuries, staff census, general patient census, utilities issues, equipment needs

− Originator: Department Managers

− When: onset of the incident and prior to shift change

− Copies to: Upon completion, the form will be submitted to the Planning Chief

Department Status Forms

• Department Status Summary– Purpose: to assist in establishing operational objectives – Originator: Situation Unit Leader– When: onset of the incident and prior to shift change– Follow up: report to IC & Section Chiefs

Department Status Summary

BCP: Concept of Operations

• The Incident Commander may activate the Business Continuity Branch to ensure continuity of operations as needed

–The function of the Business Continuity Branch is to assist impacted areas with ensuring that critical business functions are maintained, restored, or augmented to meet the designated Recovery Time Objective (RTO) and recovery strategies outlined in the areas’ business continuity and business resumption plans

BCP: Concept of Operations

• The Business Continuity Branch activities include:– Evaluation of the impacted areas to ascertain

business function capability

– Facilitate the acquisition of and access to essential recovery resources, including business records (i.e., patient medical records, purchasing contract, etc.)

BCP: Concept of Operations

• Support the Infrastructure and Security Branches with needed movement or relocation to alternate business operation sites

• Coordinate with the Logistics Section Communication Unit Leader, IT/IS Unit Leader, and the impacted area to restore business functions and review technology requirements

• Assist other branches and impacted areas with the restoring and resuming of normal operation

• The Planning Section Chief or Business Continuity Branch Director, in collaboration with the manager(s) from the impacted departments, will use the BCP to identify resources needed to ensure continuity of critical processes within the recovery time objectives

• The IAP will include recovery strategies as applicable• Upon completion, the IAP will be approved by the

Incident Commander• Section Chiefs will provide an operational briefing to

section members:– Overview of IAP– Assign task – Assign roles

BCP: Concept of Operations

Questions????