Biomedical Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
b. Will the institution have access to alter-
native suppliers of services and/or goods
(e.g., food)?
8. Is the contract clear that a disaster at the insti-
tution's location will not necessarily relieve
the vendor of its obligations?
9. Does a disaster experienced by the
vendor
at its location relieve the vendor of all
contractual obligations, or would it instead
trigger the vendor's obligation to implement
its own disaster-recovery plan in addition to
the disaster-recovery plan of the institution?
specific to the organization (e.g., does a
pediatric hospital have access to pediatric
ventilators in an emergency)?
D. Vendor Agreements
The institution's mission-critical
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vendor agree-
ments should provide for the vendor's assistance
in planning for and responding to an emergency.
1. As part of the contracting process, has the insti-
tution discussed with its potential vendors the
outcome of its HVA?
2. Is the vendor aware of the potential risks that
are of particular concern to the institution?
3. Have contract discussions addressed any
expectations between the parties about vendor
response and/or assistance in an emergency?
4. Has the organization sought and included input
from the vendor(s) in developing the institu-
tion's disaster-recovery plans?
5. Does the institution have the leverage to
demand a priority response in an emergency?
Should it attempt to negotiate such a priority
anyway?
6. Have any expectations been discussed with
respect to compensation for additional emer-
gency services and/or goods? (The parties may
decide legitimately to leave the agreement
silent on this point, or may go into depth about
this issue.)
7. Does the vendor understand that the institu-
tion expects that the vendor will show up in
an emergency and that the parties will discuss
the compensation after the disaster, but that the
consideration will not reflect a mark-up in
the negotiated consideration purely because of
the emergency?
a. Could access to the institution be inter-
rupted, disrupting the flow of services
and/or goods
10.
If a disaster interferes with the provision of the
underlying services for a certain period of time
(e.g., notwithstanding an involved disaster-
recovery plan, the institution's software appli-
cations are unable to process its data for thirty
days after the disaster), may the institution
terminate the underlying agreement?
E. Documentation
Documentation of a healthcare institution's oper-
ational, financial, and administrative activities is
important for many purposes. Nevertheless, docu-
mentation in patient charts, for example, may
be less complete than usual when providers are
responding to an emergency situation. This may
pose a legal vulnerability for healthcare providers.
During an emergency situation, documentation
also may be particularly important for insurance-
reimbursement and grant purposes if grants are
made available based on what was done (and
adequately documented) during the emergency. If
documentation is insufficient, then an organization
can lose track of patients, symptoms and diag-
noses, and loved ones because the organization is
not following its usual systems.
1.
Is a triage tagging system in place that deter-
mines the triage classification of each person
who is evaluated and treated in the emergency
department?
to the institution in a
disaster?
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Mission-critical items are not limited to clinical issues such as medical supplies. Mission-critical items may include food-service
agreements, software agreements for billing applications, and other items important to the organization's operation.
