WASHINGTON and NEW YORK – A new article titled, “An HIT Solution for Clinical Care and Disaster Planning: How One Health Center in Joplin, MO, Survived a Tornado and Avoided a Health Information Disaster,” by the Geiger Gibson /RCHN Community Health Foundation Research Collaborative at the George Washington University School of Public Health and Health Services, was released today in the Online Journal of Public Health Informatics (OJPJI). It examines the experience of a community health center in the aftermath of the major tornado that swept through the American Midwest in the spring of 2011, and provides insight into key information technology planning issues, especially those related to patient records and health center data, essential to disaster survival and recovery. The authors recommend that clear guidance, based on industry best practices, be developed to help health centers plan for the information technology elements of disaster situations, and that data security be identified as a priority.
HIT Essential to Disaster Support, Recovery IT Planning for Data and Infrastructure Key to Sustaining Care.
