“In July, the Trump administration released a new directive telling hospitals to send COVID-19 patient data directly to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, bypassing the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.”
“Since then, some state hospital associations say they’ve adjusted to the new system. Others, however, still report headaches.”An initial scramble
“Despite claims from the CDC and HHS that the move had been a joint decision – which would later be thrown into doubt by CDC Director Robert Redfield – the shift sparked concern among public health experts and legislators about the possibility that vital information would become politicized…”
“Meanwhile, hospital associations told Healthcare IT News that the change had thrown their member systems into ‘chaos.’ Many said they’d had two days’ notice that the directive was going into effect. They described a scramble to meet the arduous new reporting requirements. Many feared a failure to do so would put their access to remdesivir, the COVID-19-treatment drug, in jeopardy. Some pointed to apparent errors in the public-facing data.”
“Analysts at the COVID Tracking Project also flagged discrepancies between the data being reported by the states and HHS.”
“As of today, HHS’ tracking portal had last been updated a week ago…” Read the full article here.
Source: A month after CDC COVID-19 reporting change, some hospitals still have trouble – By Kat Jercich, August 17, 2020. Healthcare IT News.
