It’s probably a good idea for all businesses to have a plan to handle emergencies, but for health care businesses, emergency plans are a requirement. For home health agencies and nurse registries, the requirement is for a Comprehensive Emergency Management Plan (CEMP) that covers very specific aspects of patient care and business operations before, during and after an emergency.
Some important areas of the CEMP are:
- Specific individuals are designated as being responsible for carrying out the emergency management plan.
- Because each locale faces different challenges, the CEMP must analyze the risks of various potential emergencies faced by that particular business. In Florida, we tend to think primarily about hurricanes, but wildfires and other potential threats also exist and must be addressed.
- The business’s monitoring process for emergencies, and the event(s) that triggers the activation of the CEMP.
- The process for educating staff on their responsibilities before, during and after the emergency to assure a well-trained workforce capable of responding in a crisis.
- The process for providing care to patients before, during and after the emergency. It’s important to keep in mind that no one expects a business to risk the lives of its workers. However, every healthcare business should have a process for determining which patients need continued services and how their needs will be met in a crisis.
- Patients need to be well-informed of the business’s emergency plans, and the CEMP must address when and how that communication will occur.
- If patients evacuate to a shelter, a healthcare business has responsibilities to prepare relevant health related information to accompany the patient. The CEMP must explain how this will be accomplished.
- Notification is a key aspect of the CEMP and must include how patients and staff will be notified of the emergency and how staff will be dispatched to provide needed care.
- Sometimes businesses cannot serve a patient during or after an emergency, and the CEMP must describe the “buddy-business” relationship with another company who can help out, and the process for coordinating care with that entity.
- Interactions with local emergency management personnel must be covered in the CEMP; this includes when and how these communications will be affected.
- Once the emergency is over, the CEMP must explain the steps the business will take to re-establish normal operations and patient care.
It is mandatory for any healthcare business required to complete a CEMP to submit the plan to the Florida Department of Health for approval. In the past, it was sufficient to show proof of having submitted the CEMP; however, an actual letter of approval of the completed CEMP is now required.
Coleman Consulting Group’s experienced consultants can handle your healthcare business’s CEMP from its preparation to its approval and implementation.