Dear AuntMinnie Member,
A year ago today, Hurricane Katrina made landfall on the coast of the southeastern U.S. The storm had a devastating impact on residents of the region, but it also changed forever the way healthcare providers view the subject of disaster recovery.
This week in our Healthcare IT Digital Community, staff writer Wayne Forrest examines the lessons learned from Hurricane Katrina, particularly with respect to healthcare IT. He takes a look at four healthcare providers that were caught in the storm, how it disrupted their operations, and how they are getting back on their feet.
One facility that didn't have an electronic medical record system in place found its entire archive of hard-copy medical records a wet, moldy mess -- employees are rebuilding each patient's medical history from scratch. Another facility had backup copies of its electronic data, but the backup facility was only a half-mile away, and was evacuated during the storm -- leaving the hospital without access to the data for 10 days. Read about their experiences by clicking here.
In a sidebar article, several healthcare providers discuss how their operations have been affected in the aftermath of the storm. Many displaced residents have yet to return to the Gulf Coast region, leaving healthcare facilities struggling to cope with lower patient volumes and higher levels of charity care. Learn about this aspect of the story by clicking here.
Get these stories and the rest of the news in the world of healthcare IT by visiting our Healthcare IT Digital Community at healthcareit.auntminnie.com.
