Disaster Planning During SARS-CoV-2/COVID: One Radiology Informatics Team's Story

Area of Science:

• Medical Informatics
• Radiology Informatics
• Disaster Preparedness

Background:

• Traditional disaster planning for hospital information systems (HIS) emphasizes redundancy and manual workarounds for events like fires or natural disasters.
• The Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) / Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) pandemic introduced a novel disaster scenario, impacting HIS operations differently.
• The pandemic necessitated physical distancing of employees and computing resources, challenging established HIS continuity strategies.

Purpose of the Study:

• To discuss the four phases of disaster planning: mitigation, planning, response, and recovery.
• To illustrate these disaster planning phases using the specific example of a radiology informatics team's response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
• To provide insights into adapting HIS for unprecedented public health crises.

Main Methods:

• The manuscript outlines a disaster planning framework based on four distinct phases.
• It uses a case study approach, detailing the experiences of a radiology informatics team during the COVID-19 pandemic.
• The methods focus on the practical application of disaster planning principles in a real-world healthcare crisis.

Main Results:

• Hospital information systems, while functional, required significant adjustments due to the need for physical distancing.
• The pandemic highlighted the limitations of traditional disaster planning models for infectious disease outbreaks.
• The radiology informatics team successfully adapted operations by implementing new strategies within the disaster planning framework.

Conclusions:

• Effective disaster planning for HIS must evolve to address novel threats like pandemics, incorporating physical distancing requirements.
• A phased approach (mitigation, planning, response, recovery) provides a robust structure for managing HIS disruptions during crises.
• The radiology informatics team's experience demonstrates the adaptability of HIS and informatics professionals in overcoming pandemic-related challenges.