The AHA and Joint Commission May 4 announced the launch of the Cyber Resilience Readiness program, an initiative to help hospitals and health systems assess and strengthen their ability to sustain clinical continuity — i.e., safe and quality clinical operations — during cyber-related technology outages for 30 days or longer. The first-of-its-kind program emphasizes real-world operational readiness and patient safety impacts, rather than solely IT recovery. The voluntary program evaluates an organization’s ability to maintain safe patient care during cyber disruptions; coordinate clinical, operational and leadership response during downtime; prepare staff to function effectively during a significant cyber incident; and identify and mitigate risks that post a threat to clinical continuity. 

For more information on this or other cyber and risk issues, contact John Riggi, AHA national advisor for cybersecurity and risk, at jriggi@aha.org, or Scott Gee, AHA deputy director for cybersecurity and risk, at sgee@aha.org. For the latest cyber and risk resources and threat intelligence, visit aha.org/cybersecurity.