Health departments for at least 12 states have inflated or deflated the number of individuals who tested positive for COVID-19, in some cases to meet the criteria for "safe" reopening sooner, according to a report by Politico.
Four things to know:
1. The states have altered COVID-19 data by changing criteria for the definition of who is a victim of the coronavirus as well as what counts as a coronavirus test. In other cases, states have stopped publicly reporting COVID-19 data. Arizona stopped its pandemic modeling all together.
2. Around one-third of states aren't reporting hospital admission data for COVID-19 patients. In Georgia, the number of patients reported as hospitalized with COVID-19 only includes those who were hospitalized at the time of their diagnosis, which deflates the numbers.
3. Nationally, the CDC combined data for diagnostic and antibody testing, which artificially boosts testing numbers. Politico also reported that HHS took data about overdose and suicide deaths during the pandemic "out of context."
4. The creator of Florida's COVID-19 dashboard Rebekah Jones has also alleged she was asked to manipulate data and then fired when she refused.
https://www.beckershospitalreview.com/data-analytics/florida-s-covid-19-dashboard-creator-claims-she-was-fired-for-refusing-to-manipulate-data.html
More articles on health IT:
5 biggest challenges to health IT innovation in the year ahead: survey
Patient experience 'never events' from 16 execs at Cleveland Clinic, Providence & more
Where Amazon could go next in healthcare