The National Academy of Public Administration (NAPA) issued a new report this week that breaks down four problem areas in intergovernmental responses and consequences to the COVID-19 pandemic, and makes recommendations for better disease-related data sharing mechanisms between states and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
A new report from the Government Accountability Office (GAO), found that water surveillance technology has allowed public health officials to detect community-level disease outbreaks and even identify COVID-19 outbreaks one to two weeks sooner than clinical testing. However, GAO found a lack of national coordination and standardized methods leads to challenges with wider adoption of the tech.
The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has collected data from Congress-established tribal epidemiology centers (TEC) to provide public health support for American Indians and Alaska Natives (AI/AN). However, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) found that 12 centers had varying access to HHS’ data.
While healthcare disparities are not new, the COVID-19 pandemic did highlight the persistent and systemic inequities with healthcare in this country, especially for indigenous communities.
Better data and guidance can help states reinvest more than $800 million from fiscal year (FY) 2015-2019 in adoption savings – the result of 2008 legislation to increase Federal reimbursement of state assistance payments to adoptive families.
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) reimburses states for most Medicaid costs and is supposed to oversee how states use funds, but its IT systems have had problems with ensuring proper oversight, and CMS no longer supports efforts to reduce duplication by state systems, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) said.
The Federal Communications Commission said that the total value of funding grants under its COVID-19 Telehealth Program rose to $157 million, after the agency approved $29.4 million of new grants.
The Government Accountability Office (GAO) made several recommendations to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and others to improve coordination of cybersecurity requirements among Federal agencies to protect data shared with state government agencies.
The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is considering a new approach to the Strategic National Stockpile, a “supply chain IT control tower” that would allow officials a full, comprehensive view of emergency supplies.
Limited collection of Medicaid data by states is standing in the way of a complete analysis of opioid misuse and abuse within the program, according to an August 15 report from the Department of Health and Human Services’ (HHS’) Office of Inspector General (OIG).
