Downtime, whether planned or unplanned, continues to put incredible stress on healthcare organizations. Balancing patient care, clinical workflows, and security while systems are down has always been challenging. But with the growing threat of ransomware and now major changes to federal compliance standards, having a robust downtime plan is no longer just best practice, it’s required.
Here are five updated reasons to have an effective downtime plan in 2025:
1) Better Patient Care
As healthcare grows more digital, even minor interruptions can disrupt care delivery. Simple tasks like locating a patient’s room, reviewing lab results, or administering medications become more complicated without immediate access to the EHR. A strong downtime plan ensures clinicians have access to the essential data they need to minimize disruptions and maintain high-quality care, even during unexpected outages.
2) Remain Compliant—Now a HIPAA Mandate
While most organizations have fallback methods during downtime, such as pen and paper, these are prone to errors and can put protected health information (PHI) at risk. In 2025, compliance stakes are higher as the proposed HIPAA Security Rule update mandates several new requirements, including:
- Maintaining exact backup copies of electronic PHI (ePHI)
- Restoring critical systems within 72 hours of an event
- Notifying upstream partners within 24 hours of contingency activation
- Performing a formal “criticality analysis” to prioritize recovery
Downtime solutions that meet these standards will not only help you stay operational, they’ll also help you remain compliant with the updated HIPAA framework.
3) Reduce Complexity for IT
Healthcare IT teams already juggle complex systems, integrations, and limited budgets. Adding downtime management into the mix, especially during an emergency, only increases the strain. An effective downtime strategy simplifies recovery by:
- Automating regular backups
- Using mirrored environments or virtualized systems
- Leveraging third-party tools designed for clinical continuity
By reducing manual work and consolidating tools, organizations can improve recovery times and ease the burden on IT teams when it matters most.
4) Avoid Reputation Damage
Reputations take years to build, and seconds to lose. A major downtime incident can affect patient safety, delay care, or expose data, all of which erode public trust. With the rise of ransomware attacks, downtime incidents are no longer a matter of “if” but “when.”
Hospitals that invest in comprehensive downtime solutions are better equipped to:
- Continue providing safe, timely care
- Protect patient data from exposure or loss
- Demonstrate preparedness to their communities and regulators
5) Practice Makes Prepared
The best downtime plans don’t live in a binder, they’re tested, updated, and practiced. Regular drills help identify system gaps, clarify staff roles, and improve recovery time objectives (RTOs). With evolving compliance requirements, it’s even more important to:
- Conduct regular contingency plan tests
- Update procedures based on results
- Train teams on both planned and unplanned outage protocols
Preparation not only improves performance during real downtime events, it also positions your organization as a leader in resilience and readiness.
iatricSystems™ Can Help
iatricSystems™ is pleased to offer CareContinuity™, a downtime solution designed to give your clinical teams uninterrupted access to critical patient information during both planned and unplanned EHR or LAN outages, from any web-enabled device.
As compliance requirements evolve and threats increase, CareContinuity™ helps you meet new federal standards while maintaining the quality care your patients rely on.
