DeGette, others call on GAO to investigate Trump administration’s changes to hospital-capacity-reporting system

WASHINGTON, D.C. – A group of federal lawmakers today requested that the Government Accountability Office investigate changes the Trump administration made last month to the nation's hospital-capacity-reporting system.

The request came in a letter sent by U.S. Reps. Diana DeGette (D-CO), Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-NJ) and Anna Eshoo (D-CA) to the comptroller general of the GAO, Gene Dodaro, in which the lawmakers asked that the agency review new guidelines issued by the Trump administration requiring that all hospitals now report their daily capacity data during the pandemic directly to the Department of Health and Human Services, instead of to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as they have been doing.

The lawmakers said the sudden changes have reportedly caused unnecessary confusion among hospital administrators and led to the loss of valuable data used to track the spread of the virus.

"Not only have HHS's actions seemingly sidelined the nation's top public health officials, but they have also reportedly led to unnecessary confusion, additional burden on critical COVID-19 response professionals, and the loss of timely and reliable data, all in the midst of the pandemic when people's lives are at stake," the lawmakers wrote. "We are concerned that these reporting changes undermine the nation's COVID-19 response efforts, and therefore request that the Government Accountability Office review the process and impacts of these changes."

The lawmakers also said they were concerned that, in bypassing the CDC, the hospital data would become more vulnerable to manipulation to hide the severity of the ongoing pandemic.

"We are concerned these repeated changes to reporting efforts represent yet another attempt by the Trump Administration to sideline CDC during the national public health emergency," the lawmakers wrote. "While HHS has stated CDC will have access to the data that is made available in HHS Protect, in bypassing CDC, the new reporting processes raise transparency concerns around how the data may be reviewed and its vulnerability to manipulation to hide the severity of the pandemic."

HHS released new guidance in July requiring that hospitals submit their daily data through a new third-party reporting platform operated by TeleTracking Technologies, Inc., or through an HHS-authorized state health department, instead of to the CDC.

The guidance, in effect, eliminated the CDC's National Healthcare Safety Network that as many as 85% of hospitals across the country had been using to report such data to the federal government.

CDC Director Robert Redfield testified before Congress on July 31, 2020 that his agency was not involved in the decision to change the way hospitals report such data, and was informed of the change only after it was made.

In requesting that GAO review the changes, the lawmakers suggested that the agency consider the following questions in reviewing the administration's actions:

• What benefits or challenges did changes to the COVID-19 hospital capacity reporting guidance and systems have on the nation's COVID-19 pandemic response, including the health care system, public health stakeholders, patient care and access to treatment?
• How has the Administration monitored, tracked and aggregated data collected and compiled through various mechanisms including NHSN, TeleTracking, state-based reporting and the HHS Protect platform, and further ensured quality control, utility and transparency of data collected from hospitals and others on COVID-19 cases and hospital resources?
• What was the timeline and process for the decisions that led to removing NHSN as a reporting option and limiting future reporting options to TeleTracking and authorized state-based reporting in July 2020?

To read the lawmakers letter to GAO, click HERE.