To keep a clinic running through power and internet outages, you need three things working together: equipment that protects critical workstations, a paper downtime procedure that every staff member knows, and an organised recovery in which every activity is re-entered once the system is back. None of these is enough on its own. This guide explains how to set each one up, department by department.
Key takeaways
- List your critical workstations: registration, cash desk, pharmacy, laboratory, nursing station, server, router.
- Protect them: UPS units, a well-maintained generator, a backup internet connection.
- Prepare a paper downtime procedure: pre-printed forms, numbered receipts and a named person in charge.
- Organise recovery: data re-entry, cash reconciliation and stock updates.
- Back up regularly and test restoring the data, not just copying it.
Power and internet outages: why they are a management issue
When the system stops, registration can no longer find patient records, the cash desk cannot issue invoices and the pharmacy loses track of what leaves its shelves. The main risk is not the outage itself but the improvisation that follows.
Take a 30-bed clinic in Kumasi. The power goes off on a Monday morning, at the busiest time of the week: the kind of dumsor every Ghanaian manager knows. With no written instructions, each staff member records information in their own way. By evening, nobody knows how many consultations were paid for or which medicines were dispensed. The loss is not technical: it is financial and organisational.
Continuity therefore belongs to management: an equipment budget, an approved procedure and a named person responsible, just like fire safety.
Map critical workstations and what they depend on
Before buying equipment, list what must keep working and what each workstation depends on. Depending on how the software is hosted, the internet may or may not be one of those dependencies: we compare both options in our article on cloud versus local server for hospital software.
| Workstation or equipment | Depends on | Priority measure |
|---|---|---|
| Registration and cash desk | Electricity, computer, printer, network | UPS, paper forms ready |
| Pharmacy | Electricity, computer, network | UPS, paper dispensing register |
| Laboratory | Power for analysers, computer, network | Generator, paper result forms |
| Local server, if any | Stable power, air conditioning | Dedicated UPS, planned clean shutdown |
| Router and internet box | Electricity, provider subscription | UPS, backup connection |
Example: a health centre in Tamale finds that its router is plugged into an ordinary socket with no protection. Every brief power cut knocks all workstations offline for several minutes. Plugging the router into a UPS solves the problem.
Equip your facility against outages
UPS units: buying time to switch over
A UPS (uninterruptible power supply) is not meant for working for hours without mains power. It absorbs brief cuts and holds on long enough for the generator to start, or for staff to save their work and shut down properly. Put one on every critical workstation, on the router and on the server. An old UPS can look fine and then hold nothing: test it every quarter, with mains power actually switched off.
Generator and solar power
A generator remains the standard solution for departments that cannot stop, provided it is maintained: fuel in stock, regular servicing and start-up tests under real load. Some facilities add solar panels and batteries for IT equipment and lighting at the nursing station.
Example: a private hospital in Abeokuta runs its generator every Friday under real load and logs each test in a book. On the day of a genuine grid failure, nobody is caught off guard.
A second internet connection
If your software is accessed online, a backup connection from another provider (for example a 4G router alongside a fibre line) lets staff keep working when the main line goes down. Test the switchover regularly.
The paper downtime procedure, step by step
Even a well-equipped facility will one day face a long outage. A downtime procedure, fitting on one page per department and displayed at every workstation, lets staff keep treating and billing patients without losing information.
- The manager on duty confirms the outage and declares downtime mode, noting the time.
- Each department takes out its paper kit: registration forms, prescription slips, numbered receipts, pharmacy register.
- Every form carries the patient’s name, date of birth, record number if known, the time and the staff member’s name, plus the NHIS membership number in Ghana or the NHIA or HMO details in Nigeria when the patient is covered.
- The cash desk uses a numbered receipt book with counterfoils and records the payment method (cash, card, mobile money) and the amount in cedis or naira.
- Completed forms go into a single tray per department.
- The manager declares the end of downtime, noting the time, and recovery begins.
Example: in a mission hospital in northern Ghana, the paper kit fits in a red box kept under every counter. New staff learn to use it in their first week.
Recovering after the outage: re-entry and checks
Recovery is the most neglected step. Without re-entry, records stay incomplete and the revenue collected during downtime disappears from reports. Decide who re-enters the data, by when, and who checks it.
- Re-enter patients who are still on site first: inpatients, those waiting for results and those under observation.
- Re-enter procedures and payments, then compare the total of paper receipts with the total recorded in the system.
- Record pharmacy dispensing to bring stock levels up to date.
- File the re-entered paper forms, stamped “re-entered” with the date.
This cash reconciliation follows the same logic as our guide on hospital billing and revenue leakage.
Backups: copy, separate, test
A sudden power cut can damage a disk or corrupt files, especially on a local server. A simple rule known as 3-2-1 is a useful benchmark: three copies of your data, on two different types of media, with one kept off site.
The key point is restoration: a backup that has never been tested is only an assumption. Schedule regular test restores on a separate machine. See also our guide to IT security in clinics.
How MediFlow supports your continuity plan
MediFlow does not replace a UPS or a generator: continuity depends first on equipment and organisation. Its aim is to bring all management into one tool, so that paper forms from an outage are re-entered in a single place once systems are back.
This already applies to attendance, on-call duty and stock (handovers, stock issues); the other modules, in development, will follow the same principle. During the demo, ask how the tool behaves during a connection outage.
Frequently asked questions
How long should a UPS last in a clinic?
Long enough for the generator to start, or for staff to save their work and shut down properly. Runtime depends on the load connected, so have a technician size each UPS based on the equipment actually plugged in.
Do we really need to re-enter every paper form after an outage?
Ideally, yes. A form that is never re-entered leaves a patient record incomplete and a payment missing from your reports. Start with patients still on site and the cash desk, within a deadline set by management.
Is a 4G backup connection enough?
For a small facility, a 4G router from a different provider than your main line is often a reasonable backup. Check actual coverage inside your building, plug the router into a UPS and test the switchover regularly.
Want to see how MediFlow fits your facility? Request a free demo.
