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DISASTER PREPAREDNESS MORE THAN JUST GOOD BUSINESS  Boca Raton - Published in the Boca Raton News Imagine caring for a loved one who is terminally ill when a natural disaster, such as a hurricane, tornado, or earthquake, hits your home town. Even worse, imagine calling for a hospice nurse and getting no answer. Chances are, you would think twice about relying on that agency again for such important care. Making sure that calls like this are connected is the essence of Boca Raton-based Call 4 Health, a medical call center that manages patient calls – 24 hours a day, seven days a week - for home health care and hospice agencies, hospitals, and private physician practices. Disaster PreparednessSeveral years ago, Call 4 Health created a preparedness plan, which was specifically focused on hurricanes but would apply to any disaster. The plan included the purchase and installation of a high-capacity propane generator for the Boca Raton call center and investment in the most robust and technologically advanced call center systems available. The planning and investment paid off: during Hurricanes Francis, Jeanne, and Wilma, Call 4 Health operators did not miss a single call. “After Wilma, many of our home health care agency clients lost power and the ability to communicate with their patients,” said Nicholas Koutrakos, vice president and chief financial office for Call 4 Health. “They came to us – some for two weeks and others for several months – to run their businesses. Not only did we not miss the calls coming into Call 4 Health, we further demonstrated our commitment to our clients and their patients by dedicating phone lines, computers, and office space to help continue to operate.” During and after the hurricanes, Call 4 Health’s volume increased as patients called to find their doctors, schedule nurses, and order crucial home medical equipment, including oxygen. “Our call volume quadrupled after Hurricane Wilma and continued 24 hours a day for several months after,” said Joseph Pores, chief executive officer for Call 4 Health. “Having our employees and their families stay in the center for several days kept them safe and enabled us to handle the increased and continuous volume.” Many employees lost power and had structural damage to their homes. Call 4 Health opened their doors and provided food, water, and warm showers to employees and their families. Not only were the employees grateful to have shelter, they were happy to have jobs. Many of their colleagues in the service industry were left without work. Consequence of No PlanAccording to the Florida Division of Emergency Management, almost 40% of small businesses that close due to a disaster never reopen. Businesses of all sizes should develop a disaster plan that identifies what management would do if the building was damaged or destroyed; where employees would go to continue providing customers with services or products; and how the team would prepare to have the correct resources, databases, contact information and other necessary items to adapt to change and Having a disaster plan that identifies these important items will help ensure that a business is prepared to survive during unexpected and difficult times. Businesses can create a free business disaster plan by visiting www.floridadisaster.org/business. It only takes about 10 to 15 minutes, and time and money invested before a disaster can save a small business tens of thousands of dollars or even the business. Forward ThinkingWhen Hurricane Katrina hit Louisiana, many hospitals and health care organizations in the New Orleans area were completely shut down, and they lost communication with their patients. For several hospitals, including the New Orleans Children’s Hospital, Call 4 Health set up a dedicated 800 number for patients, nurses, and doctors to call and connect with each other. Today, Call 4 Health continues to take calls for the Children’s Hospital and other New Orleans-based health care organizations. After Hurricane Wilma, Call 4 Health took an extra step to ensure continuous operation by opening a call center in Charlotte, NC. Going forward, should a hurricane or natural disaster prevent Call 4 Health from being able to operate, calls are seamlessly transferred to Charlotte. All of this is invisible to the caller. “Customers – or patients in our case – just want to talk to someone,” said Pores. “Given that we have clients throughout the country and patients with critical situations, there is no reason that their call will not come through to us.” # # # About Call 4 Health Call 4 Health is one of the nation's leading medical and home health care call centers providing professional and accurate service to its national clientele. Based upon compassion and empathy as its key principles, Call 4 Health offers its customers the utmost attention while operating 24 hours a day and 7 days a week. Based in Boca Raton, Florida, Call 4 Health operates 24/7 and services private doctor practices, hospitals, home healthcare providers, large medical facilities and hospice services. For additional information, call (888) 422-7352 or visit www.call4health.com. Media Contact: |
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