BY: RHODA WEISS
Ms. Weiss is a Santa Monica, CA–based health care consultant and speaker.
Be prepared. These two simple words form the basics of crisis planning for
health care organizations. Whether the issue is financial, legal, clinical,
staff-related, or church-related, every Catholic entity should have in place
a comprehensive crisis communications plan that enables the organization to
quickly and humanely address the problem at hand.
A "crisis" is defined by the Institute for Crisis Management, Louisville,
KY, as having several key characteristics:
- The element of surprise
- Extensive public scrutiny
- Extensive news coverage
- An adverse affect on normal operations
- An impact exceeding the organization's normal capacity to respond
- Insufficient information
- An escalating flow of events
- Loss of control
Today's savvy organizations are integrating technology into their crisis planning.
Technology Can Make the Difference
"How an organization responds to a crisis can mark its reputation for good
or ill, for years," says Fred Bagg, director of community relations and marketing,
St. Francis Hospital & Health Centers in Indianapolis, IN. "Use of technology
can help any organization respond more quickly, effectively, and confidently,
improving the chance of a positive outcome in the court of public opinion."
A response to a crisis must be immediate, open, honest, accurate, focused,
and launched with a clear message, according to Bagg. The greater the use of
technology in this response, the greater will be the organization's ability
to expand its capacity to respond to the crisis and the more quickly the crisis
can be handled.
"Technology can reduce the effect of the elements by which we define a crisis,"
says Bagg. The element of surprise can often be muted if the organization's
managers have, by paying close attention to their environment, seen the problem
coming and prepared for it; or, if once the problem has occurred, they launch
quick and efficient communications about it. Hospital websites, with subscriptions
to news and weather services, can help reduce surprise in some instances. Prepared
statements containing fill-in-the-blank elements that the organization can immediately
disseminate via broadcast voice mail, broadcast fax, broadcast e-mail, and "uploading"
on the hospital's website will reduce the element of surprise among key audiences
and help kick-start the response.
Keep Databases Up to Date
One thing is especially crucial for organizations facing a crisis: fast, effective
notification of the key personnel needed to respond to it.
"Databases should be preprogrammed with phone numbers and addresses for broadcast
fax, mass e-mails, and broadcast voice mails," says Bagg. "Key members of the
hospital's crisis response teams should wear preprogrammed group alphanumeric
pagers. Key 'contact lists' should be maintained not only on the hospital's
computer databases but also on personal digital assistants (PDAs) carried by
executives and key members of the response team."
For instance, the organization's public relations professional should have
key media contacts programmed into his or her PDA [Bagg continues]. The facilities
manager might have key vendor contacts such as movers or office supply vendors
programmed into his or her PDA. Executives might have key government officials
and members of the management team in their PDAs. PDAs can also carry e-versions
of the organization's crisis response plan, and can be used in concert with
infrared-equipped laptop computers to download information gathered as the
crisis continues.
Organizations should ensure that once a crisis occurs, their command centers
are equipped with the necessary technology and their media centers are set up
to respond to the crisis, Bagg says. This preparation should include room or
location assignments where T1 lines for Internet use may be accessed and where
copiers, fax machines, laptop computers, PDAs, or walkie-talkies are readily
available. The media center should be equipped with a radio, TV/VCR, a computer
with a projector, a lectern, and other equipment that might be needed by broadcast
or print reporters as the crisis wears on. The command center of a multihospital
system should also be equipped with teleconferencing or videoconferencing equipment.
"In these tough times, it is often difficult to fund all the equipment that
might be needed in a crisis, but having good relationships with vendors and
arranging pre-set lease or rental agreements with them can solve that problem
at a low cost," says Bagg. Agreements can also be set up for delivery of cell
phones or walkie-talkies or the activation of 1-800 or 1-888 "hotline" numbers.
A Word about Media Relations
Now a word about media relations: The hospital's website should have a media
center with a crisis or disaster section (hidden or open) that can be accessed
through the Internet with a password so that information can quickly be posted,
photographs uploaded, and background information made available to the media.
This reduces the amount of time public relations professionals will have to
spend on the phone with media representatives, thereby giving them more time
to gather information, develop appropriate statements, and help make strategy
decisions as the crisis evolves.
"Effective use of the media center on your website can help you reduce confusion,
respond to rumors, and assist in facilitating work with the media," Bagg says.
St. Francis Hospital & Health Centers' media center is a good example.
The site (www.media.stfrancishospitals.org) is set up with a "third-level domain"
so that media representatives can bypass St. Francis's home page and go directly
to the media center. The center contains background information, facility data,
and biographical material about its leadership and a dedicated disaster/crisis
section. On this section of the site, media representatives can learn of the
hospital's policy and procedures in a crisis, access guidelines for the media,
contact members of the hospital's community relations department, and access
a log of events related to the particular crisis.
"Hospitals across the country have been upgrading their crisis planning since
September 11, 2001, but few have thought about the role technology can play
in that planning and response process," Bagg says.
Copyright © 2003 by the Catholic Health Association of the United States
For reprint permission, contact Betty Crosby or call (314) 253-3477.