Six ways of ensuring hospitals are ready for emergencies

With the advent of technology, the healthcare industry, like every industry, is rapidly evolving. It is not changing only in the type of care delivered but also in the cost of care delivery.

Medical advancements and their part in enhancing patient care outcomes have pushed healthcare administrators into the spotlight. Although primary care physicians are considered the backbone of the healthcare industry, healthcare administrators are the wheel’s hub that efficiently keeps the system running.

Role of Healthcare Administrators in ensuring Patient Care

Healthcare administrators emergency ensure quality patient care, which means planning, directing, and coordinating with the medical staff, making sure there are no discrepancies in the care plan.

On the business end, administrators emergency are in charge of policy management and interpret laws and regulations during patient care. A healthcare administrator must strike a balance between managing the business and the healthcare components of a medical facility.

It includes ensuring the organization delivers quality patient care while carrying out its operations smoothly. Medical facilities failing to accomplish these objectives are likely to suffer. 

If you want to make a significant effort in leading healthcare organizations emergency toward a bright future, strengthen your learning by enrolling in programs like an MHA online degree to understand the administrative dynamics of an organization.

By doing that, you’ll have a direction to practically incorporate systematic changes that enhance patient care.

Part of healthcare efficiency is ensuring that medical facilities live up to the promise of delivering quality care even during desperate times. Keeping that in view, mentioned below are a few ways hospitals are prepared to tackle emergencies.

1.   Establishing an emergencies operations plans

As mentioned earlier, a hospital’s goal during an emergency is to ensure that patient care remains uncompromised. A critical component of ensuring that is establishing an emergency operation plan.

Every representative within the organization must participate in developing a plan to ascertain a coordinated response. Besides that, the staff must be well-trained to understand their function in maintaining quality patient care. Medical facilities unprepared for trying times are more likely to compromise service and care.

The benefit of formulating an emergency plan is that it provides structure to the organization to help them respond to and recover from an event efficiently. Although there aren’t any universally applicable emergency plans, a few critical components must be included.

A few of the critical components are communication, safety, and security, asset management, and staff responsibilities.

2.   Communication

Communication is one of the essential steps of an emergencies plan that must be focused upon. The medical facility command center must have multiple communication outlets, including a working phone line and radios compatible with emergencies services.

To prevent communication disruptions, hospital units and personnel must have walkie-talkies. All lines of contact must be listed in the emergencies plan. In case there is a disruption in the primary communication system, a backup system must be documented. Besides agencies, listing down the contact information of groups or officials in the community is also useful.

There is an increased likelihood that such individuals might have resources and information that prevents delay in response. Communication channels must be reviewed or updated during staff changes or shifts in the organization’s responsibilities.

3.   Resource Management

Part of ensuring the emergencies plan delivers fruitful outcomes is resource management. Hospitals must evaluate the availability of resources and take action to restock supplies such as food, clean bedding, and water.

An organization’s administrators must go through the inventory, assess the depletion rate, and plan how to restock. Medical facilities must remember that sometimes governments can become overwhelmed to respond to a crisis efficiently; for instance, Hurricane Katrina.

Medical facilities must be prepared for things taking a turn for the worst; therefore, additional and emergencies supplies must be kept at the site at all times.

Usually, the supplies must be enough to last three to four days, even at surge capacity. In addition to food, clean bedding, supplies like emergencies generators, and hazmat suits must be counted within the plan.

4.   Safety and Security

Safety and security are critical during a crisis. Depending on the type of catastrophe, how that is maintained varies. An emergencies plan must outline how the organization intends to ensure the safety and security of patients and staff.

A healthcare administrator’s role is to evaluate the safety hazards that are likely to arise during a disaster. Keeping that in view, administrators must establish a plan that mitigates the risk and ensures security.

Hazardous waste disposal instructions, isolation protocols, and decontamination procedures must all be part of a hospital’s emergencies operation plan. Local security agencies like police and sheriff’s contact information must also be included in the plan. Maintaining contact with these agencies is crucial to navigating staff members out of harm’s way and managing the unruly public.

Additionally, the organization’s security personnel must be trained to monitor, control and lock all the exits if needed. Facilities should also have enough PPE to ensure protection against hazardous agents.

5.   Staff Responsibilities

To ensure that the emergencies plan is effective and resources are utilized efficiently, every staff member must clearly understand their roles and responsibilities. Besides having an understanding, the team must be trained for emergencies.

Training programs cover crowd and media management, hazard identification, treatment protocols, and isolation. To ensure preparedness at all times, emergencies management information must be readily available in the form of a brochure throughout the facility.

Independent practitioners must know whom they will report to and their role during a crisis. Psychological counseling is provided to every staff member for stress management. Drills must be performed continuously to determine the plan’s effectiveness. Evaluate staff responsibilities periodically and reorganize roles as required.

6.   Utilities

To ascertain that the quality standard is maintained throughout the emergencies, facilities must house enough generators to help run operations smoothly. Ideally, the power capacity should be enough to last for three to four days.

The emergencies operation plan must list essential services during a crisis to avoid mismanagement. Generators must be stored in a dry location with sufficient fuel for 3-4 days of essential services.

Different types of disasters, like earthquakes, can disrupt communication services and affect gas. For such unprecedented circumstances, medical gases like oxygen and portable communication devices must always be stocked. Backup utilities must be located in an area that is easily accessible during a disaster.

Conclusion

Disasters can strike at any time, which is out of our control. But, the measures we implement to manage any crisis are in our hands. That said, a healthcare administrator plays a critical role in emergencies management. They are responsible for establishing a plan and ascertaining its effectiveness.

An emergencies operations plan covers all aspects of disaster management, from communication to utilities, staff responsibilities, and security. Asa healthcare administrator, you must ensure the quality of patient care is maintained despite challenges.