Scenario 3:
Escalate to CRITICAL (IT-911)

Review

Escalation of a MI to a Critical, also known as an “IT-911”, can be issued at any time during the course of an incident.  When it is evident that an incident has extreme impact to operations or that the loss of system functionality may jeopardize patient care or safety – an IT-911should be declared.  Critical MIs require an immediate and sustained effort using all available resources until it is resolved. The IC continues to play an important part in resolving the issue, but IT Administrator on-call or IT-AOC is also engaged at this time.  The job of the IT AOC is to facilitate communication with other Medical Center or enterprise leadership personnel and to provide enterprise level perspective during the crisis.
All resources needed to resolve the incident must be immediately available.  A rapid notification is sent to all IT Leaders that an IT-911 is in progress.  Leaders are expected to quickly dial into the call bridge that has been set up for this purpose.  The IC’s job is to quickly ascertain and convey the facts of the situation and to facilitate appropriate actions and decisions. 

Key notes:

• Critical or IT-911 is highest level of MI escalation (further escalation would warrant a cut over to the IT Disaster Recovery Plan or Medical Center Command). 
• Incidents can be escalated immediately from Detection to Critical if the impact to the organization is extensive and obvious.
• An important way to communicate during a Critical event is through IT911 calls. These calls help to convey important facts about the situation and organize the actions and next steps in the remediation process. All IT Leaders are expected to participate.

Test your knowledge:

The Interface Manager has joined a troubleshooting bridge in progress and confirms there is a widespread problem.  The interface engine is not sending data to the receiving systems.  Call volume at the Service Desk has also spiked and customers in multiple departments are confirming that information is not showing in their systems. Patient care decisions are in jeopardy of being delayed. The IC has remained involved and close to the facts. He moves quickly to escalate the incident to a “Critical” and calls the ITAOC to debrief her.
The “IT-911” auto-notification is quickly broadcasted to all IT Leaders and the communication bridge is opened. The team jumps on. The IC debriefs quickly and the IT AOC contacts Medical Center Leadership to alert them of the situation and impact.

 

 

Question

The decision to escalate to a “critical” is the right one?

A. Yes

B. No

The correct answer is A.

Answer:

A. YES Whenever patient care or safety is at risk, the incident warrants an immediate IT-911 response.

B. Not Correct: Whenever patient care or safety is at risk, the incident warrants an immediate IT-911 response.