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Exit Survey
 
 
Thank you for your participation in the National Survey of Health Insurance Plan Emergency Preparedness, an initiative AHIP is doing in partnership with public health leaders to assess the level of readiness and ability of health insurance plans to restore operations in a timely manner during and after an adverse event. Adverse events may include a natural or man-made event, such as a public health emergency, pandemic, weather disaster, cyber threat, terrorism, or other local or national emergency that impacts operations. The goal of the assessment is to identify areas where government and public health entities can assist health plans, and capture and report on best practices.

Your individual responses to these questions will not be shared. Aggregate information from all health plan interviews and surveys will be presented in a final report. In any report or publication, we may list the health plans that participated in the survey; however, we will not identify information from specific health plans in any reports or publications, unless agreed to in advance by your plan.

Please note that due to the complex skip pattern once you started to answer the survey you need to finish in one sitting: if you answer just part of the questions and then log off and return to the survey later you will have to answer all the questions starting with the first. We advise you to familiarize yourself with the questions first by using the attached PDF document.

 
 
 
Contact Information
 
 
 
* 1. Health plan's name
   
 
 
* 2. Your name
   
 
 
* 3. Position
   
 
 
* 4. Email address
   
 
 
 
Health Plan Emergency Response/Recovery/Business Continuity, Planning and Operations
 
 
5. Does your organization develop plans based on business interruptions that result from:
Yes No
* Loss or severe impact to critical infrastructure (facilities, emergency power generators etc.)
* Loss of technical infrastructure (e.g., IT software, hardware, platforms, redundant technology, etc.)
* Loss of human resources (e.g. staff, leadership)
* Loss of communication networks
 
 
 
* 6. Please indicate if your organization has an incident command structure for an emergency response and recovery operation (select all that apply):
 
Formal Incident Command Structure that aligns with the Federal National Incident Command Structure (NIMS) Guidelines
 
Executive Leader that serves in an incident commander or leader role
 
Disaster/Emergency Response Team(s) with defined responsibilities (e.g. leadership, communications, logistics, operations, etc.)
 
Disaster/Emergency Manager with defined responsibilities
 
Disaster/Recovery Team with defined responsibilities
 
Business Continuity Team
 
Emergency Operations Center (EOC)/Central Command Center
 
Emergency Call Center
 
No, we do not have an incident command structure
 
Other
 

 
 
 
Health Plan Emergency Response/Recovery/Business Continuity, Planning and Operations
 
 
 
* 7. Have you performed a risk assessment to identify possible threats and their potential impact on the work of your organization?
 
Yes
 
No
 
 
 
Health Plan Emergency Response/Recovery/Business Continuity, Planning and Operations
 
 
 
* 8. How often is your risk assessment to identify possible threats to the work of your organization updated?
 
At least annually
 
At least every two years
 
No set schedule
 
Other
 
 
 
 
Health Plan Emergency Response/Recovery/Business Continuity, Planning and Operations
 
 
 
* 9. Has your organization conducted a Business Impact Analysis (BIA)?

Note: the purpose of the BIA is to determine critical operations functions and processes and Recovery Time Objectives (RTOs) for each process.
 
Yes
 
No
 
Other
 
 
 
 
* 10. Does your organization conduct a periodic audit of business continuity planning?
 
Yes
 
No
 
Other
 
 
 
 
* 11. Has your organization established metrics (e.g., benchmarks) to evaluate your emergency response/recovery/business continuity planning and operations? (Check all that apply)
 
Yes, state of readiness
 
Yes, response time
 
Yes, percent of operations restored
 
We have not established such metrics
 
Yes, other metrics (please specify)
 

 
 
 
Health Plan Emergency Response/Recovery/Business Continuity, Planning and Operations
 
 
 
* 12. Do you have an established plan for communicating about changes in operations within 24 hours of an emergency with the following stakeholders during/after a disaster? (Check all that apply)
 
Members
 
Customers/employer groups
 
Providers
 
Hospitals
 
Vendors/suppliers
 
Regulators
 
Public health officials
 
Local and state hospital associations
 
Local and state medical societies
 
News media
 
Leadership (e.g., CEO, Board of Directors, etc.)
 
Currently, we do not have an established plan for such communication
 
Other
 

 
 
 
* 13. Do you have policies/plans in place for your organization’s employees regarding any of the following support services during a disaster? (Check all that apply)
 
Educational materials
 
Evacuation plan
 
Health resources
 
Mental and behavioral health resources
 
No policies or plans currently in place
 
Other
 

 
 
 
* 14. Does your organization routinely conduct internal emergency preparedness drills and exercises?
 
Yes
 
No
 
 
 
Health Plan Emergency Response/Recovery/Business Continuity, Planning and Operations
 
 
 
15. Which of the following emergency preparedness activities does your organization routinely conduct? (Check all that apply)
 
Evacuation drills
 
Department “walk through” of their completed plans
 
Department /Division level table top exercises
 
Enterprise level multifunctional table top exercises
 
Department/division simulation
 
Enterprise level multi-functional simulation
 
Technical infrastructure and data testing
 
Other
 

 
 
 
Health Plan Emergency Response/Recovery/Business Continuity, Planning and Operations
 
 
 
* 16. Please describe reasons for your plan not conducting internal emergency preparedness drills and exercises. (Check all that apply)
 
Prioritization (other activities take higher priority)
 
Limited resources (e.g., limited staffing)
 
Other
 

 
 
 
Health Plan Emergency Response/Recovery/Business Continuity, Planning and Operations
 
 
 
* 17. The Department of Homeland Security Information Network Healthcare and Public Health Sector Portal (HSIN-HPH) facilitates secure voluntary two-way sharing of information with the Federal Government on emergency preparedness and response issues. Additional information and access can be requested by emailing [email protected]. Is anyone from your organization registered on the HSIN-HPH?


 
Yes
 
No
 
Other
 
 
 
18. What information/training/resources from local, state, or federal public health officials could make your disaster planning efforts and recovery operations more successful? (Check all that apply)
Planning for internal health plans operations Planning for member-related activities
Alerts within 24 hours of an event
Checklists
Inclusion in drills or simulations
Lists of emergency contacts
Ongoing updates as situation evolves
Webinars
Other (please describe below)
No information needed
 
 
 
19. If you checked the option "Other" in the previous question, please describe:
   
 
 
 
Emergency Provision and Modification of Benefits and Service to Members
 
 
 
* 20. What would trigger a review of possible temporary changes in benefits because of an adverse event? (Check all that apply)
 
Federal declaration of emergency
 
State declaration of emergency
 
Other (e.g., corporate policy)
 

 
 
 
* 21. In the event of a disaster what temporary changes to your regular policies would you consider (as appropriate to the situation)? (Check all that apply)
 
Revision or relaxation of out-of-network restrictions
 
Ensuring the availability of electronic medical records to facilitate the continuity of care
 
Establishing a toll-free help line
 
Establishing emergency assistance on your web site
 
Extending time periods for filing claims
 
Process to accept incomplete claims due to record or data loss
 
Temporarily suspending of provider precertification requirements (e.g. credentialing, etc.)
 
Temporarily suspending of business rules for pharmacy re-fill limitations
 
Temporarily suspending durable medical equipment replacement limitations (e.g. electric wheelchairs, O2 concentrators etc.)
 
Temporarily suspending of business rules for pre-certification
 
Temporarily suspending of business rules for prior medical authorization
 
None of these options
 
Other
 

 
 
 
22. Do you have specific policies and capabilities that allow you in the event of emergency to identify and provide necessary assistance to the following populations? (Check all that apply)
 
Yes, for durable medical equipment dependent members (e.g. electric wheelchairs, O2 concentrators, etc.)
 
Yes, for prescription drugs dependent members (e.g. insulin, methadone, etc.)
 
Yes, for at-risk populations who are dependent on home health care
 
No, we do not have policies and capabilities to identify and provide necessary assistance to these populations in the event of emergency
 
Other
 

 
 
 
Emergency Provision and Modification of Benefits and Service to Members
 
 
 
* 23. In the event the U.S. government provides a non-formulary drug (e.g. antivirals) would your health plan consider covering the pharmacy dispensing fee?
 
Yes
 
No
 
Other
 
 
 
24. In the event of emergency do you have the capabilities to use claims data to anticipate and monitor the following potential needs regarding the continuity of care:
Yes No
* Access (e.g. healthcare providers, facilities)
* Utilization (e.g. providers, services)
* Pharmacy Medications
* Durable Medical Equipment
* Patient Safety
* Quality of Care
 
 
25. In the event of emergency do you have the capabilities to use data from nurse call lines to monitor possible problems with the following:
Yes No
* Access (e.g. healthcare providers, facilities)
* Utilization (e.g. providers, services)
* Pharmacy Medications
* Durable Medical Equipment
* Patient Safety
* Quality of Care
 
 
 
Emergency Provision and Modification of Benefits and Service to Members
 
 
26. Are there contingencies in place to expand the following services to accommodate a surge in calls in the event of a disaster?
Yes No
* Nurse call lines
* Case management services
 
 
 
* 27. Do you have a process in place for provisional/emergency credentialing of providers?
 
Yes
 
No
 
Other
 
 
 
 
Emergency Provision and Modification of Benefits and Service to Members
 
 
28. In your experience, are there legal or regulatory barriers in place that hinder making changes in your business practices and policies during or after a disaster?
Yes No
* Federal legal or regulatory barriers
* State legal or regulatory barriers
* Local legal or regulatory barriers
 
 
 
Relationship with Other Health Care Stakeholders and Public Health Entities - National, State and Local
 
 
 
* 29. Do you share with emergency officials (e.g. state or local public health officials) any information on your contingency plans?
 
Yes
 
No
 
Other
 
 
 
30. Is it clear to you whom to call or notify within regulatory agencies in the event of a disaster or a public health emergency?
Yes No
* Federal agencies
* State agencies
* Local government
 
 
 
Relationship with Other Health Care Stakeholders and Public Health Entities - National, State and Local
 
 
 
* 31. How often do you update the list of emergency contacts with federal, state, local agencies and government?
 
Twice a year (or more often)
 
Annually
 
No set schedule
 
We do not maintain a formal list of emergency contacts
 
Other
 
 
 
 
* 32. Does your organization routinely participate in external (national, state or local) emergency preparedness drills and exercises?
 
Yes
 
No
 
 
 
Relationship with Other Health Care Stakeholders and Public Health Entities - National, State and Local
 
 
33. How often does your organization participate in external emergency preparedness drills and exercises?
Twice a year (or more often) Annually When available
* In national drills
* In state drills
* In local drills
 
 
 
Relationship with Other Health Care Stakeholders and Public Health Entities - National, State and Local
 
 
 
* 34. Please describe reasons for your plan's not participating in external emergency preparedness drills and exercises (Check all that apply)
 
No opportunities to participate
 
Limited resources (e.g., limited staffing etc.)
 
Other
 

 
 
 
Lessons Learned and Best Practices
 
 
 
* 35. As a second phase of the project, AHIP will do brief follow up interviews with some health plans, to gather more qualitative information regarding internal plan emergency preparedness and external multi-stakeholder emergency preparedness. Your response to these three questions would assist us in planning for Phase 2.


Is your organization interested in participating in a forum to share best practices and lessons learned?
 
Yes
 
No
 
Other
 
 
 
 
* 36. Are there are lessons learned from past experiences your organization would like to share?
 
Yes
 
No
 
Other
 
 
 
 
* 37. Are there disaster preparedness and response best practices that you would like to share? (If you want to share any documents, describing your disaster preparedness and response activities, you can send them to [email protected])
 
Yes
 
No
 
Other