GAO finds room for progress on flu pandemic preparation

By Jessica Zigmond
Posted: March 7, 2009 - 5:59 am EDT

Nearly half of the recommendations the Government Accountability Office has made in the past three years to help the nation to prepare for a flu pandemic have not been implemented, according to a GAO report. The purpose of the February report, which was released March 6, was not to make new suggestions, but rather to highlight the status of the GAO’s previous recommendations in six areas: leadership, authority and coordination; detecting threats and managing risks; planning, training and exercising; capacity to respond and recover; information sharing and communication; and performance and accountability.

According to the 58-page report, HHS estimates that in a pandemic, nearly 10 million people would require hospitalization, which would exceed the current capacity of U.S. hospitals and “necessitate difficult choices regarding rationing of resources.” HHS also estimates that nearly 1.5 million of these people would require an intensive-care unit and about 740,000 would require mechanical ventilation. The GAO said it had recommended that HHS serve as a clearinghouse for states to share information about so-called “altered standards of care,” which refers to providing care while allocating scarce equipment, supplies, resources and personnel. But, as the GAO reported previously, HHS did not comment on the recommendation, and it has not indicated plans to implement it. The report also said that federal agencies such as HHS and the Homeland Security Department have shared information in a number of ways, but state and local governments and private-sector representatives would welcome more information on vaccine distribution and other topics.

“Continued leadership focus on pandemic preparedness is particularly crucial now as the attention on influenza pandemic may be waning as attention shifts to other more immediate national priorities,” the report concluded.

On the same day the GAO released its report, the CMS issued a one-time notification about guidance related to the waiver of certain Medicare requirements in the event of a pandemic flu outbreak.