The vision
Executives at Franciscan Health knew uncertainty lay in the future. Prolonged IT system outages are inevitable in healthcare, but the real risk is unknown length and severity of impact. Franciscan focused on what they could control: sustaining care, operations, and workforce stability during these downtimes. Far more than an IT issue, this required shared responsibility across business functions.
Co-creating the solution
Franciscan partnered with Chartis to establish enterprise-wide resiliency via Blackout Blueprint. They began with defining what the Midwestern health system needed to do—and, equally important, not do—during downtime. Next, teams rounded and shadowed inpatient functions, high-volume clinics, and other business functions such as supply chain, to document workflows and validate device capabilities. From there, they developed enterprise policies and role-specific blueprints, tested through tabletop simulations with front-line leaders and reinforced through knowledge-sharing workshops.
Believe in better
In addition to creating a clear blueprint for downtime operations, this work surfaced gaps and variability in everyday operations. Franciscan used these insights to strengthen enterprise accountability, discipline, documentation, and workflows. The health system now has embedded resiliency as an ongoing organizational capability rather than a one-time initiative.
