Skip to main content
Sister Publication Links
  • ESG: THE NEW IMPERATIVE
Subscribe
  • My Account
  • Login
  • Subscribe
  • News
    • Current News
    • COVID-19
    • Providers
    • Insurance
    • Government
    • Finance
    • Technology
    • Safety & Quality
    • Transformation
    • People
    • Regional News
    • Digital Edition (Web Version)
    • Patients
    • Operations
    • Care Delivery
    • Payment
    • Midwest
    • Northeast
    • South
    • West
  • Digital Health
  • Insights
    • ACA 10 Years After
    • Best Practices
    • Special Reports
    • Innovations
  • Data/Lists
    • Rankings/Lists
    • Interactive Databases
    • Data Points
  • Op-Ed
    • Bold Moves
    • Breaking Bias
    • Commentaries
    • Letters
    • Vital Signs Blog
    • From the Editor
  • Awards
    • Nominate/Eligibility
    • 100 Most Influential People
    • 50 Most Influential Clinical Executives
    • Best Places to Work in Healthcare
    • Excellence in Governance
    • Health Care Hall of Fame
    • Healthcare Marketing Impact Awards
    • Top 25 Emerging Leaders
    • Top 25 Innovators
    • Diversity in Healthcare
    • Women in Healthcare
    • - Luminaries
    • - Top 25 Diversity Leaders
    • - Leaders to Watch
    • - Luminaries
    • - Top 25 Women Leaders
    • - Women to Watch
  • Events
    • Conferences
    • Galas
    • Virtual Briefings
    • Webinars
    • Custom Media Event: ESG Summit
    • Transformation Summit
    • Women Leaders in Healthcare Conference
    • Social Determinants of Health Symposium
    • Leadership Symposium
    • Health Care Hall of Fame Gala
    • Top 25 Women Leaders Gala
    • Best Places to Work Awards Gala
    • Top 25 Diversity Leaders Gala
    • - Hospital of the Future
    • - Value Based Care
    • - Supply Chain Revenue Cycle
    • - Hospital at Home
    • - Workplace of the Future
    • - Strategic Marketing
    • - Virtual Health
  • Listen
    • Podcast - Next Up
    • Podcast - Beyond the Byline
    • Sponsored Podcast - Healthcare Insider
    • Video Series - The Check Up
    • Sponsored Video Series - One on One
  • MORE +
    • Advertise
    • Media Kit
    • Newsletters
    • Jobs
    • People on the Move
    • Reprints & Licensing
MENU
Breadcrumb
  1. Home
  2. Providers
April 02, 2020 01:27 PM

White House data request highlights coordinated response concerns

Steven Ross Johnson
  • Tweet
  • Share
  • Share
  • Email
  • More
    Reprints Print
    Modern Healthcare Illustration / Getty Images

    After receiving a request by Vice President Mike Pence to submit daily reports on COVID-19 testing within their facilities, hospitals with in-house labs are struggling to figure out exactly how to do it.

    "That came as a surprise," said Dr. Karen Kaul, chair of the Department of Pathology and laboratory medicine at suburban Chicago-based, NorthShore University HealthSystem. Especially since most hospitals were already reporting their testing to state health departments, which in turn report results to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, a federal agency.

    Not all states require hospitals to provide the same types of testing data. Recent reports indicate some states provide only positive COVID-19 test results from private labs. Other states post positive tests and deaths but not the number of tests that turn out to be negative results. All that leads to incomplete view of how the virus is spreading—something that epidemiologists say has put the U.S at a disadvantage.

    On Sunday, Pence sent a letter to hospitals with in-house labs asking that test results be sent to HHS every day by 5 p.m. ET. In his letter, Pence stated the "data was needed at the federal level" to support state efforts in addressing the outbreak. Hospitals have already been sharing capacity and patient impact information with federal health officials, providing updates on bed counts, number of available ventilators, and the number of suspected COVID-19 patients presenting in their emergency departments.

    "The data will help us better understand disease patterns and develop policies for prevention and control of health problems related to COVID-19," Pence wrote.

    The request has revealed a breakdown in public health coordination between state and federal governments—something that to date has prevented many hot spots throughout the country from receiving the supplies necessary to combat the pandemic and from receiving the testing tools to contain the spread of the virus.

    On March 17, NorthShore was the first provider in the Chicago area to start conducting in-house coronavirus testing. Since then, more hospitals and health systems have begun conducting their own COVID-19 testing, frustrating by the delay in getting test kits. Private labs such as Quest and Labcorps have also now experienced delays. Many in-house hospital labs can get results back in just a few hours instead of days.

    According to the CMS, there are more than 9,000 facilities designated as "hospital labs" in the U.S., though only a few can test for COVID-19, according to the American Association for Clinical Chemistry, a leading trade organization representing clinical laboratory professionals.

    While Kaul didn't foresee reporting to HHS as a huge administrative burden, she says there is a better approach.

    "I think what our questions are: is this redundant and is there a way to do one-stop reporting," Kaul said. "It would be nice to consolidate these efforts."

    Dr. Brian Rubin, chairman of the Robert J. Tomsich Pathology & Laboratory Medicine Institute at Cleveland Clinic, said the health system plans on complying with HHS' request. But he said the process will require the health system to extract data manually since HHS is asking for more information than what is usually sent to the state health department.

    "We only report positives to the state," Rubin said. "They want a lot more data looking at many different aspects related to testing including, daily negatives and positives, cumulative negatives and positives, cases that failed, etc."

    Dr. Dwayne Briening, executive director of Northwell Health Labs, said he didn't see the extra reporting as a challenge because he felt confident the health system had the infrastructure it needed to set up "things like this pretty readily".

    "For many smaller institutions with less support it will be more of a challenge," Briening said.

    Letter
    to the
    Editor

    Send us a letter

    Have an opinion about this story? Click here to submit a Letter to the Editor, and we may publish it in print.

    Recommended for You
    CN_2021122p35_Smallhold Royal Trumpet Mushrooms 9.85_Buck Ennis_i.jpg
    Psychedelic therapy providers get creative as costs trip up patients
    Shafer Dr. David Shafer Clinic Botox cropped9.49.jpg
    A Botox boom for back-to-work
    Sponsored Content
    Modern Healthcare A.M. Newsletter: Sign up to receive a comprehensive weekday morning newsletter designed for busy healthcare executives who need the latest and most important healthcare news and analysis.
    Get Newsletters

    Sign up for enewsletters and alerts to receive breaking news and in-depth coverage of healthcare events and trends, as they happen, right to your inbox.

    Subscribe Today
    MH Magazine Cover

    MH magazine offers content that sheds light on healthcare leaders’ complex choices and touch points—from strategy, governance, leadership development and finance to operations, clinical care, and marketing.

    Subscribe
    Connect with Us
    • LinkedIn
    • Twitter
    • Facebook
    • RSS

    Our Mission

    Modern Healthcare empowers industry leaders to succeed by providing unbiased reporting of the news, insights, analysis and data.

    Contact Us

    (877) 812-1581

    Email us

     

    Resources
    • Contact Us
    • Advertise with Us
    • Ad Choices Ad Choices
    • Sitemap
    Editorial Dept
    • Submission Guidelines
    • Code of Ethics
    • Awards
    • About Us
    Legal
    • Terms and Conditions
    • Privacy Policy
    • Privacy Request
    Modern Healthcare
    Copyright © 1996-2022. Crain Communications, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
    • News
      • Current News
      • COVID-19
      • Providers
      • Insurance
      • Government
      • Finance
      • Technology
      • Safety & Quality
      • Transformation
        • Patients
        • Operations
        • Care Delivery
        • Payment
      • People
      • Regional News
        • Midwest
        • Northeast
        • South
        • West
      • Digital Edition (Web Version)
    • Digital Health
    • Insights
      • ACA 10 Years After
      • Best Practices
      • Special Reports
      • Innovations
    • Data/Lists
      • Rankings/Lists
      • Interactive Databases
      • Data Points
    • Op-Ed
      • Bold Moves
      • Breaking Bias
      • Commentaries
      • Letters
      • Vital Signs Blog
      • From the Editor
    • Awards
      • Nominate/Eligibility
      • 100 Most Influential People
      • 50 Most Influential Clinical Executives
      • Best Places to Work in Healthcare
      • Excellence in Governance
      • Health Care Hall of Fame
      • Healthcare Marketing Impact Awards
      • Top 25 Emerging Leaders
      • Top 25 Innovators
      • Diversity in Healthcare
        • - Luminaries
        • - Top 25 Diversity Leaders
        • - Leaders to Watch
      • Women in Healthcare
        • - Luminaries
        • - Top 25 Women Leaders
        • - Women to Watch
    • Events
      • Conferences
        • Transformation Summit
        • Women Leaders in Healthcare Conference
        • Social Determinants of Health Symposium
        • Leadership Symposium
      • Galas
        • Health Care Hall of Fame Gala
        • Top 25 Women Leaders Gala
        • Best Places to Work Awards Gala
        • Top 25 Diversity Leaders Gala
      • Virtual Briefings
        • - Hospital of the Future
        • - Value Based Care
        • - Supply Chain Revenue Cycle
        • - Hospital at Home
        • - Workplace of the Future
        • - Strategic Marketing
        • - Virtual Health
      • Webinars
      • Custom Media Event: ESG Summit
    • Listen
      • Podcast - Next Up
      • Podcast - Beyond the Byline
      • Sponsored Podcast - Healthcare Insider
      • Video Series - The Check Up
      • Sponsored Video Series - One on One
    • MORE +
      • Advertise
      • Media Kit
      • Newsletters
      • Jobs
      • People on the Move
      • Reprints & Licensing