Concerns linger after Iowa spends $230K on contact tracing software

Iowa has paid more than $230,000 so far to a Utah company for contact tracing software that still is causing delays for some public health departments as they track COVID-19.

In a service order amendment signed in July by Paul Trombino, interim director of the Iowa Department of Administrative Services, the state agreed to pay Domo $75,000 a year for a new custom app for COVID-19 case investigation and contact tracing.

That subscription fee was prorated to $55,479 for the first year of a three-year contract, which The Gazette obtained through an open records request.

The deal also calls for Iowa to pay $175,000 for professional services for app implementation.

Several local public health departments were critical of the software in November, saying it was slowing their contact tracing at a time the virus was surging. Since then, the state has started holding weekly webinars to answer public health officials’ questions, but delays continue.

Read more: https://www.thegazette.com/subject/news/government/iowa-covid-contact-tracing-software-domo-test-iowa-cares-20210104
(Cedar Rapids Gazette)