National Preparedness Month is observed each September to encourage and remind Americans to prepare for disasters and emergencies in their homes, business, and communities. It aims to empower a culture of readiness across communities, emphasizing that preparing for disasters can save lives, speed up recovery, and reduce costs. It is a timely reminder for behavioral health organizations to strengthen their disaster and emergency planning. Interruptions in service delivery can lead to gaps in care, increased risk for clients, and long-term reputational damage.
A robust Business Continuity Plan (BCP) is a cornerstone of preparedness and outlines how an organization will continue operating during and after a disaster. Behavioral health organizations handle sensitive data, making electronic protected health information (ePHI) a top priority in any emergency plan. The HIPAA Security Rule mandates safeguards to protect the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of ePHI. It requires organizations to have a contingency plan with implementation specifications around backing up and restoring data, continuation of critical business processes, which includes determining the criticality of systems, as well as planning, testing, and revising requirements.
In recognition of National Preparedness Month, we invite you to a special lunch-and-learn session focused on BCP. During this session, we’ll walk through the key steps to building a disaster plan and share helpful resources—including a customizable template—to support your organization’s preparedness efforts.
