State scales back hospital COVID reporting requirements

It was burdensome and unnecessary for hospitals to report the county of residence for Iowans receiving in-patient treatment for COVID-19, according to Sarah Ekstrand, a spokesperson for the Iowa Department of Public Health.

As such, the department is no longer requiring hospitals to report the information, which the state previously published online. A page on the state’s coronavirus website that contained the information was recently removed — a change first noted by the Iowa Falls Times Citizen.

“Iowa hospitals continue to be stressed for staffing, and any effort IDPH can do to reduce the burden on hospitals will provide much-needed relief,” Ekstrand told Iowa Capital Dispatch.

It’s unclear how much time was required to collect and submit the information.

Ekstrand said state health officials used it to track infection trends early in the pandemic, but they now rely on other “existing data collection.” She did not elaborate.

Read more: https://iowacapitaldispatch.com/2021/11/24/state-scales-back-hospital-covid-reporting-requirements/