Promising Practices

A clearinghouse of innovation
Confidentiality
Criteria
Submitting ideas
Evaluation
Accessing practices
Articles

Help CIDRAP Business Source build a clearinghouse of innovation—and reap the benefits from it

We know you've worked hard to ready your organization for an infectious disease threat, such as an influenza pandemic. We also know how much you and other companies would like to learn from each others' successes and innovations. But unlike a public health agency, when it comes to sharing promising practices, you're up against legal liability worries and concerns about revealing proprietary information. As a result, you've often had to plan in isolation.

Since 2006, CIDRAP Business Source has worked to provide practical information with which you can benchmark your efforts and best prepare your organization. With CIDRAP Business Source Promising Pandemic Practices, we're providing a safe zone for sharing. Imagine the advances you could make by exchanging promising practices, without worry about legal exposure or competitive risk. Now you can. As you and other planners contribute your ideas, we'll build a robust bank of promising practices that will help you save time, money, and effort.

Here's how it works:

1. We'll protect your confidentiality

We understand that your organization may have reasons for remaining anonymous. We will ask whether you prefer that your company receive recognition for submitting the promising practice or to remain anonymous. If you opt for anonymity, we will remove any mention or way of identifying your company or organization. Of course, our preference is to see you get full acknowledgement for your innovation. Please consider the benefits of being identified, including (1) recognition as an industry leader and (2) public goodwill.

2. How we define a promising practice

You might be surprised to learn that what you have created is a promising practice. Maybe your practice seems routine or obvious to you. Rest assured, other planners may well be wrestling with a dilemma you've figured out long ago. And vice versa. A promising practice, as defined by CIDRAP Business Source, meets three criteria. Your concept is a promising practice if we determine that it:

1. Contains information, a transferable tool, or strategy for an organization to prepare for, respond to, recover from, and/or maintain operations during an influenza pandemic
2. Is a feasible business practice that can be carried out by other organizations of similar size
3. Is practical and has a reasonable chance of success

3. How to submit a promising practice

• Send your idea to ppvolun@umn.edu. Please provide your name and contact information, including a phone number, in the e-mail.
• Attach any documentation you think will help us fully understand the concept. All materials will be kept strictly confidential.
• We will confirm receipt of your submission via e-mail.

4. How we'll evaluate each concept

• We will review your submission to ensure it meets the three criteria.
• If we need more information or documentation for clarification, we will contact you and arrange a phone call.
• If your concept meets the criteria, we will draft a brief summary for your review and approval.
• If you have requested anonymity, we’ll ask you to check the summary carefully to ensure we have accurately captured your concept without introducing anything that might identify your organization.
• Once you have approved the summary, we will post it in the Promising Practices section of this Web site, preferably with documents and templates that can be downloaded for others to use. (We will remove any company identifiers from documents and templates at your request.)

5. Accessing promising practices

To access the promising practices, you must meet at least one of two criteria:

1. Have contributed a promising practice and approved it for posting
2. Be a current CIDRAP Business Source subscriber

If you have submitted and approved for posting a promising practice, you will receive via email:

• All previously published practices, as soon yours is posted
• Future promising practices approved for posting by other organizations

If you are a CIDRAP Business Source subscriber, you will have access to the full archive of promising practices via the subscriber-only Web site and will be alerted to new practices via the Osterholm Briefing Update.

We look forward to working together to advance the field of business preparedness! Meanwhile, take a look at the resources we have gathered, and consider us your trusted Source.

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Articles from Weekly Briefing/Osterholm Briefing

Chicago's antiviral stockpile: How a major metro area plans to distribute drugs
Chicago's allocation from the federal stockpile will be distributed to the public for treatment at triage centers.

Antiviral drugs and pandemic preparedness: How some companies formulated their antiviral policies
Three companies detail dramatically different policies on antivirals.

Antivirals and legal considerations: A look at 4 scenarios
Steven Gravely, partner and head of the healthcare practice group of law firm Troutman Sanders, highlights the potential risk to businesses of certain stockpiling and distribution scenarios.

Fortune 500 companies put their plans to the test
Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu details how it uses exercises to fine-tune its pandemic plans.

Pitney Bowes: Using fresh memories, history to get the preparedness message across
How one company has succeeded in getting engagement from its CEO.

Planning for pandemic-protection shortages
How healthcare centers can triage patients in the face of pandemic shortages.

When recovered employees return: Key considerations
Sidebar to article above. Any plan to use recovered workers should include repeated communication, a skills database, and careful attention to hazard-pay policies.

Alcan creates color-coded, regional alerts for pandemic planning
Green, yellow, orange, and red signify different action-related situations that are specific to this company's structure.

Emergency pay policies: How 3 companies are preparing for an influenza pandemic
Highlights the different policies of three companies that vary widely in their approaches.

How Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu prevents pandemic planning fatigue
How one global corporation combats fatigue, including avoiding information overload and emphasizing variety.

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