One example of contingency planning focuses on establishing time off/vacation polices, and then planning how to meet the demand with the diminished supply of providers. First assess the minimal supply (providers) it takes to meet the demand, and then commit to not go under that minimum. This means that the team must also agree on how to handle multiple requests for the same time frame.

The next step is to plan how to meet the demand, given the drop in supply caused by planned time off for providers. Some teams plan to have more nursing staff available, better leveraging the diminished provider supply. Other teams make sure that the "present" providers have some discretionary time held in their schedules to meet the demand of their absent colleagues. In addition, they may hold some time during the provider’s first week back for those patients that can or choose to wait.