Health Care Department Operations Manual

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Chapter 2 – Patients’ Entitlements and Responsibilities

Article 3 – Health Information Management

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2.3.13 Health Record Application/System Downtime Contingency Plan

  • Policy

    • California Correctional Health Care Services (CCHCS) Health Information Management (HIM) shall ensure that the documentation of patient care continues in the event of application or system downtime.

  • Purpose

    • To ensure continuity of care and documentation continuity for all patients in the event the Electronic Health Record System (EHRS) is not available.

  • Policy Responsibility

    • Under the direction of the Deputy Director, Medical Services, HIM Headquarters, Institution Health Records, and Health Record Center (HRC) staff are responsible for the oversight, implementation, monitoring, and evaluation of this policy.

    • The Chief Executive Officer (CEO), or designee, Health Record Technician III (HRT III), and Health Record Technician II (HRT II) of each institution are responsible for the implementation, monitoring, and evaluation of this policy.

  • Procedure Overview

    • CCHCS HIM shall maintain a Health Record Application/System Downtime Contingency Plan (Plan) to ensure continuity of care and documentation for all patients in the event the EHRS is not available during scheduled and non-scheduled downtimes.

  • Procedure Responsibility

    • Under the direction of the Deputy Director, Medical Services, HIM Headquarters, Institution Health Records, and HRC staff are responsible for the oversight, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of this procedure.

    • The CEO, or designee, has overall responsibility for local implementation of the Plan and shall ensure that a Local Operating Procedure is established to provide site-specific direction.

    • The Health Program Manager III (HPM III) at the HRC has overall responsibility for local implementation of the Plan and shall ensure that a Local Operating Procedure is established to provide site-specific direction.

  • Procedure

    • Plan maintenance and implementation

      • The headquarters HIM Program shall maintain the Plan which shall be reviewed and updated at least annually to reflect current practices and enhancements to EHRS.

      • Institution health care and HRC staff shall activate downtime procedures as directed in the Plan.

    • The Plan can be accessed electronically via Lifeline at the following link: EHRS Interdisciplinary Downtime Procedures.pdf (sharepoint.com).  The institution HRT II, Supervisor, shall ensure that a printed copy is available to all staff within the institution and inform staff where the printed copies are stored. The Plan shall include, but is not limited to:

      • Types of downtime.

      • Roles and responsibilities.

      • Incident Commander.

      • Communication process during downtime.

      • Downtime viewer, forms, and supporting materials.

      • Recovery phase including scanning procedures.

      • Downtime companion documents specific to:

        • Dental.

        • Dietary Services.

        • Health Information Management.

        • Laboratory.

        • Medical Providers.

        • Mental Health.

        • Nursing.

        • Pharmacy.

        • Radiology.

        • Registration Services.

        • Medical Scheduling.

    • Training

      • All institution health care and HRC staff shall be trained in downtime procedures and updates.  A system for orientation shall be maintained by the HPM III at the HRC and the HRT II at the institutions.

  • References

    • California Code of Regulations, Title 22, Division 5, Chapter 12, Article 5, Section 79803 Health Record Service, and Section 79807, Inmate-Patient Health Record Availability

  • Revision History

    • Effective: 03/2018
      Reviewed: 07/2022