In a Jan. 18 article for The Atlantic, Mr. Madrigal explains that why despite pressure to switch back to the CDC’s reporting system the government should continue using HHS Protect, which was developed by TeleTracking. Last July, HHS updated hospital reporting on coronavirus testing, capacity, utilization and patient flow to bypass the CDC’s original National Health Safety Network system.
The Atlantic investigated the situation, and Mr. Madrigal used its findings to support his reasoning for why the Biden administration should continue using the new system.
Five things to know:
1. While some reports claimed that the CDC scientists were blindsided by the White House’s decision to switch the reporting requirements, the CDC did approve the change before it was formally announced.
2. CDC’s system was old and quickly adapted to collect COVID-19 data; the system is managed under a $60 million contract with Leidos, and adding necessary data to track COVID-19 spread and resources was taking weeks to generate data insights.
3. By the end of 2020, 96 percent of hospitals were reporting their data to the new system daily.
4. While the transition to HHS Protect may have been rocky at first, most hospitals have effectively switched over and the system’s reports match those that states have submitted.
5. Switching back to the CDC’s system would potentially undo the progress that the HHS data team has made since July while the pandemic continues to worsen across the country, Mr. Madrigal wrote.
“Going forward, it’ll be important for the next administration to pick up the baton and build off of what’s been created for this response,” Ryan Panchadsaram, former deputy chief technology officer during the Obama administration, told Mr. Madrigal, according to the report. “Is it perfect? No. But it is better than what we had before.”
Click here to view the full report.
More articles on data analytics:
Fired Florida COVID-19 data scientist turns herself in
What IT improvements are needed to expedite the COVID-19 vaccine rollout? 5 CIOs weigh in
New computer system slows data reporting, shortchanges some North Carolina counties on COVID-19 vaccines
