There are many elements to consider in optimizing the use of information technology systems in your practice. Planning for system downtime (when a system is not operational) is crucial to your success. This installment of "Bits and Bytes" contains some broad recommendations to consider in devising your downtime plan. Downtime is essentially unavoidable. It is either planned (eg, for system maintenance or upgrades) or unplanned (eg, an unexpected system failure). You should have 2 goals: (1) minimize downtime, particularly the unplanned variety, and (2) have a detailed plan of action when downtime occurs to ensure patient safety, minimize operational inefficiency, and ensure data integrity (eg, no lost data, no wrong reports). In this column, I discuss the first goal, minimizing downtime. I will discuss a downtime plan of action in the next installment.
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