Although the government's pandemic plans rely on telework to carry out their functions, several federal, state and local agencies reported little or no testing of their information technology capability, according to the Government Accountability Office.
In a new report released Wednesday, the GAO said the current H1N1 outbreak underscores that an influenza pandemic remains a real threat to the United States.
It reiterated its recommendations from 12 earlier reports, and highlighted these three:
- Exercise the shared federal leadership roles for a pandemic;
- Address planning gaps at all levels of government and in the private sector.
- Monitor and report on agencies plans to protect their workers
The GAO found that pandemic planning and exercising has occurred at the federal, state and local government levels, but important planning gaps - including testing of IT systems - remain at all levels of government. At the federal level, agency planning to maintain essential operations and services while protecting their employees in the event of a pandemic is uneven, the GAO concluded.
The report called for further action to address the capacity to respond to and recover from an influenza pandemic, which will require additional capacity in patient treatment space, and the acquisition and distribution of medical and other critical supplies, such as antivirals and vaccines.
Performance monitoring and accountability must be strengthened, according to the GAO.
"For example, one action item asked that all HHS-, Department of Defense-, and Veterans Administration-funded hospitals and health facilities develop, test, and be prepared to implement infection control campaigns for pandemic influenza within three months," the report states. "However, the associated performance measure is not clearly linked to the intended result. This performance measure states that infection control guidance should be developed and disseminated on www.pandemicflu.gov and other channels. This action would not directly result in developing, testing, and preparing to implement infection control campaigns."
"This lack of clear linkage makes it difficult to ascertain whether progress has in fact been made toward achieving the national goals and objectives described in the National Pandemic Strategy and Implementation Plan," the report stated.
