Business Continuity & survey thanks

We’d like to thank those of you completed our subscriber survey and the wonderful feedback many of you have given.  We take on board that some subscribers have disclosed that finding things on the website isn’t always easy, and there a couple of things that might help:

• We are readily available during business hours so please if you can’t find something, drop us an email business@mas.co.nz or give us a call on 0800 800 627.
• We offer virtual tutorials by MS Teams. They cover the most used content areas and maybe areas that you haven’t found yet.
• Clicking on the ‘star’ at the top of each content page, will register this as a favourite page, and you will then be able to find it in the dark green left hand navigation page ‘Favourites’.
• And you can do the same with your favourite templates by clicking on the star where the templates appear at the bottom of the relevant content page.

Some of your other suggestions will require us speaking to our IT partners, and we will work through the suggestions and investigate what is possible.

Business continuity

Recent weather has shown us all the massive impact these events have on our lives and businesses. It is good to think about how your business would respond before you are in the position that you need the plan. Breaking the plan down into areas of responsibility what are the most important things that are required for you to continue operating bearing in mind that you have a responsibility to:

• your clients/patients
• your staff
• the community
• contractual partners

Not all risks can be eliminated so the best option is to mitigate or minimise them. What are the most important things that are needed to continue business?

• Facilities and access to them
• Resources (Equipment & documentation)
• Technology and communications

Things to consider:

• Insurance
• Do you have business interruption cover? Do you know what it covers? What about loss of earnings? Does it cover staff wages?  If you have any questions about your business insurance held with MAS you can contact our business insurance team at businessinsurance@mas.co.nz
• Communication
• Who would communicate with the staff?
• Develop a plan and means to communicate with your team.  Will you use MS teams or a social media app?
• Staff emergency contact details – do you keep a copy off site? These details should include home phone numbers, cell phone numbers and email addresses.
• If you have a practice website, do you have the ability to update this? Could you use this as a communication tool for staff, clients and patients?
• Do you keep contact details of insurers, maintenance contractors, utility providers etc, in a format that you can access off-site.
• Would your plan work if there was no power? Or Internet?
• Facilities
• Is there a practice close by that you could develop an agreement with so that you could work from their premises?
• Are there other options in the community? e.g. the local community hall.
• Resources
• IT – Is your network cloud based? Have you tested that your backup would restore your data and that you keep a backup off site? Or do you have an off-site back up arrangement. Do you have a list of software that was installed in each workstation.
• Fixed Asset register – to identify all the practice fixed assets.
• Equipment – do you have a list of all necessary equipment in each room, so that if you need to replace it you know what was there?
• Stock – do you know how much stock you have on hand and its value?
• Medical Suppliers – develop a list of your most commonly used, contact details and your customer numbers. Are you familiar with their business continuity plans?
• Pharmaceutical/Vaccine Suppliers - develop a list of your most commonly used, contact details and your customer numbers. What are their business continuity plans?

• Vulnerable patients
• If applicable, start to develop a list of your most vulnerable patients, ensure you let the patients know that you are including them on the list and why.  Make sure they know their current medications.

Resilient Business website has downloadable business continuity plans for you to customise for your practice needs.

Remember, that once you have developed your plan, it needs to be a living document and reviewed regularly.