COVID-19 – An Update from SRS COO

This COVID-19 update was originally sent to all SRS clients on March 17, 2020. We will continue to monitor the situation daily, make adjustments as necessary, and communicate with clients on an individual basis regarding their services. 

Dear SRS Clients,

As the outbreak of COVID-19 continues, we are praying for everyone’s health and safety during this uncertain time, especially those who have been impacted and those healthcare workers on the front lines. We see this challenging environment as an opportunity to help our clients develop and execute your business continuity plan and to act as a critical connection to your information, wherever you are working. This is especially important as the way we conduct business rapidly evolves.

Eleven days ago, I penned an article discussing the potential ramifications for business owners and how to react. In the days that have followed, the situation has grown more serious, as have the precautions taken by government officials and business leaders. Right now, my thesis remains unchanged:  the outbreak of COVID-19 does not call for panic, but it does justify preparation. Plans are no longer theoretical, as schools have been temporarily closed and many businesses have moved to fully remote operations. This has resulted in major disruptions to our day-to-day operations, as it has for everyone.

Secure Records Solutions is fully operational, and we will continue to serve clients in all capacities. The usual high standard of care SRS provides will remain unchanged.

Over the past several days, I have been working with crisis management experts around our industry and international peers in Northern Italy who are helping us prepare for the days ahead. We are also carefully studying guidance from the CDC. The situation is fluid, and we are prepared to pivot as necessary. The security and integrity of the information clients rely on us to protect and manage will continue to be a top priority.

The health and safety of our team and our clients also remains a top concern. To that extent, certain protocols have been put into place in this heightened health environment to further protect everyone we interact with. We will be in contact with you the day before your scheduled service to ensure you need service and that our staff will be safe in your office environment. Unless instructed otherwise, we will continue to provide service as scheduled.

If your office has changes to operations or office hours that will impact your service, please notify us at (229) 226-0414. SRS will make every reasonable effort to amend that schedule to meet your evolving needs. As service continues, we have implemented explicit policies, instruction, and training to minimize the need for interaction among clients’ employees and others, including:

• Immediately sending SRS team members home who can work remotely.
• Instituting a policy that SRS team members who exhibit symptoms of COVID-19 or are around people exhibiting symptoms must immediately notify SRS management. Failure to do so may result in termination.
• Sending any SRS team member who may have been exposed home for quarantine until the person exhibiting symptoms receives a negative test for COVID-19.
• Taking the temperature of drivers before they depart for client interaction
• Frequent sanitizing of hands and high touch assets such as bins and scanners.
• Minimizing contact by maintaining a safe distance between clients’ employees and SRS team members.
• Maintaining all existing policies related to data security, including authorized access to records and media already transferred to SRS custody.

We are taking special precautions to prevent exposure to our team and our clients so that we can continue serving your critical access needs in the weeks ahead. For this reason, we are suspending outside visitors to our facility and are limiting physical deliveries of records. We leverage technology every day to help our clients access their records more quickly and securely than physical deliveries. In the next few days, you may hear from Roy James, our Client Services Manager, who is reaching out to clients to update authorization for information access forms, provide training on our secure web portal where files can be requested and retrieved digitally, to update your business continuity preferences, and schedule pickups of information you need managed during the crisis.

Times of high stress create security vulnerabilities. Consider providing instructions and the means for remote employees to safeguard any information required to be retained, as well as instructions and means for remote employees to properly destroy discarded information and media. If you need help developing or executing that part of your business continuity plan, we are standing by.

In the next few weeks, perhaps months, we all will face difficulties, personally and professionally. The SRS team is rising to the challenge to solve new problems for our clients. While the next few weeks may create physical separation, we want to be more involved in your team’s response to this business interruption. As you consider your organization’s business continuity plans, call us to ask for help. I am always on call.

Christopher P. Jones