The recent HHS change in how hospitals report COVID-19 data may cause some hospitals to receive fewer drugs that they need to treat COVID-19 patients, such as Gilead's remdesivir, Politico reported.
On July 15, HHS began requiring hospitals to report COVID-19 data directly to the department instead of to the CDC. The stated goal of the rule change was to streamline data collection, but the HHS database isn't public like the CDC's.
HHS uses data on COVID-19 hospitalizations, drug supplies and ICU beds to decide how to allocate resources.
Hospitals are struggling to adjust to the new system, and many have to enter the data manually now, Politico reported. A mistake or failure to report the proper data daily could limit the hospitals' supply of remdesivir and other COVID-19 supplies.
HHS sent guidance to hospital administrators warning them that failure to report data will result in incorrect calculations of remdesivir, Politico reported.
But an HHS spokesperson told Politico that the data change helps the agency get real-time information to determine which COVID-19 patients are most likely to need remdesivir.
HHS acknowledged that some hospitals are struggling to implement the new rules because they weren't given much of a warning about the changes.
“We acknowledge that hospitals were not given significant lead time to prepare for these changes. We are optimistic that the depth of reporting by hospitals will continue to improve over the coming days and weeks," a department spokesperson told Politico.
Read the full article here.