Critical Resource Shortages Planning Guide Implementation Toolkit Is Now Available
Troutman Sanders LLP is pleased to announce that the Critical Resource Shortages Planning Guide Implementation Toolkit (Implementation Toolkit) is now available for all healthcare providers to access and use. The Implementation Toolkit
is the culmination of a project funded by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to improve the provision of medical services during a pandemic. The one-year project built on work that the Virginia Department of
Health (VDH), the Virginia Hospital and Healthcare Association (VHHA) and Troutman Sanders had begun in 2006 to help address the shortages of critical resources that are likely to arise during a pandemic or other large scale disaster.
Troutman Sanders led a multi-disciplinary planning team composed of healthcare professionals during a pilot implementation of the Critical Resource Shortages Planning Guide (Planning Guide). The Planning Guide provides a systematic
approach to addressing the complex issues surrounding modification of care and, in some cases, even allocation of resources, during large scale disasters and emergencies that result in critical resource shortage events. Healthcare
providers that follow the process outlined in the Planning Guide will create a Critical Resource Shortage Response Plan (CRSRP) containing, among other things, ethical and operational frameworks for responding to critical resource
shortage events, and resource-specific Protocols that providers at the point of care can use to modify care provided by or with, or to allocate, specific critical resources.
Based on the lessons learned during the pilot implementation, Troutman Sanders refined the Planning Guide and developed an Implementation Toolkit to assist critical resource shortage planners. The Implementation Toolkit includes:
- a Hospital Implementation Guide, which serves as an "instruction manual" or "teacher's edition" of the Planning Guide;
- template Power Point presentations with speaker’s notes to accompany select chapters of the Hospital Implementation Guide; and,
- other practical, hands-on tools that will enable the effective implementation of each section of the Planning Guide.
The Planning Guide and the Implementation Toolkit provide practical tools that healthcare providers can use now to plan for expected shortages of critical resources during large scale disasters. To learn more about or to download the
Implementation Toolkit, go to:
http://www.vdh.virginia.gov/criticalresourceshortagesplanning.
For additional information regarding the Implementation Toolkit or general pandemic planning issues contact Steven D. Gravely at steve.gravely@troutmansanders.com or (804) 697-1308, or Erin S. Whaley at erin.whaley@troutmansanders.com
or (804) 697-1389.