No one likes to think their organization will experience a hazard or cybersecurity threat. However, not planning for such cases puts employees at risk and threatens patient care and privacy. That’s why every hospital, private practice, and healthcare company needs an incident response plan to anticipate physical hazards and digital security breaches and mitigate their impacts.
What is an Incident Response Plan and Its Benefits?
An incident response plan enables compliance officers and other organizational leaders to take necessary and timely actions when accidents and security breaches occur. A response plan tailored to a healthcare setting includes directives for personnel training, identifying and reporting potential incidents correctly, investigating the causes of and contributors of incidents, procedures for corrective actions, and assessments that inform adaptive measures moving forward.
An incident response plan also highlights actual incidents, near-misses, and threats relevant to the healthcare setting that could cause injury, death, or damage. These threats include:
- Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) violations
- Cybersecurity attacks
- Slips, trips, and falls
- Accidental needlesticks
- Chemical exposures
- Theft, vandalism, or loss
- Workplace violence
- Natural disasters
- Human error
- Network or technological outages or failures
Because of the widespread use of electronic medical records (EMRs), healthcare organizations must also comply with the HIPAA Security Rule. The Rule mandates developing and implementing procedures to detect and respond to suspected and actual security and privacy breaches. The Security Rule also indicates that organizations must mitigate the effects of cybersecurity incidents that threaten protected EMRs.
Besides promoting compliance with HIPAA, OSHA, and other regulations, there are several benefits of incident response plans:
- They bolster security and protect patient privacy
- They help compliance officers and decision-makers diminish risk quickly
- They provide clearly outlined guidelines and information that staff can easily access
- They enhance organizational trust and credibility, promoting a culture of safety and compliance
- They make it easier for organizations to pinpoint vulnerable areas and causes of potential risks
Components of a Healthcare Incident Response Plan
Your organization’s healthcare incident response plan should accomplish the following objectives.
Preparation
Before writing the plan, the organization should conduct a risk assessment to determine the organization’s relevant vulnerabilities and threats. The plan should also establish an incident response team and identify team members by name, including their roles and responsibilities in detail. Team members should also represent critical branches like the director’s office or executive suite, legal, human resources, information technology (IT) security, and public relations.
Identification of Incidents and Breaches
A response plan also outlines the systems and procedures that help the organization detect the early warning signs of each type of incident. For cybersecurity issues, the plan can include implementing systems like virus and intrusion detection software, firewalls, and other management tools.
The plan should include protocols for reporting compliance violations or environmental conditions that could lead to physical injuries and other consequences. It should also be clear how to identify and report physical incidents and breaches that could not be prevented.
Containing and Isolating the Threat
The plan outlines the steps to contain and prevent threats from causing additional harm. For instance, if a breach of a group of patient files occurs, individuals should know how to prevent the breach from extending to other patients or the rest of the organizational network. These steps may include isolating devices or disabling accounts for purposes of investigation and analysis.
Eliminating the Cause of the Incident
The incident response plan must also outline steps to address and eliminate the causes of the physical threat or cyber breach. Eliminating the contributing factors of the incident involves investigating the causes and taking corrective measures, such as adding or updating online security features or adapting certain aspects of safety training. These adaptations should ensure that similar incidents are less likely to happen again.
Restoring Operational Continuity
After handling the incident, individuals should have guidance on returning the organization to business as usual. In the wake of a cybersecurity incident, IT personnel might verify network integrity, rebuild compromised network components, or restore all backups to the system.
Continuous Improvement
Finally, the incident response plan should include a framework for conducting post-hoc analyses of the incident and pinpointing areas for improvement, such as the need for heightened network security. Reviewing the incident might also highlight aspects of the response plan that warrant reexamination.
Cybersecurity NIST Incident Response Plan
For guidance on protecting EMRs, other sensitive data, and system networks, healthcare organizations can turn to the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). A NIST incident response plan includes procedures for monitoring for signs of cyber incidents and identifying their occurrence. It also ensures that employees know how to respond to a security incident, mitigate its impacts, document and collect evidence, and evaluate the incident to make improvements to future risk management efforts.
Software Solutions for Injury and Security Incidents
Because developing, implementing, and improving healthcare incident response plans can be complex and time-consuming, you can increase your efficiency and accuracy with software and other digital tools. Compliance software can streamline incident response and let you stay on top of regulatory compliance.
A comprehensive software package typically has the following features:
- A platform with a dashboard to help track tasks, activities, and information
- Access to training modules, tracking of employee training progress and completion, training deadline reminders, and reports of scores
- A portal allowing employees to report incidents
- Template for risk assessments and reporting
- Access to incident response plans, critical operational policies, and other documents
- Customization of reports for regulatory agencies and organizational leaders
- Automation of administrative tasks
Compliancy Group is committed to helping your organization preserve patient care and privacy. For more information on how software can help you develop an incident response plan, contact us today.
