As I see it, the recent Obama-administration's move on declaring federal emergency status for H1N1 will greatly help faster response in at least a couple of areas. First, the relaxation of the HIPAA rules will greatly simplify the collecting and reporting of patient cases between all the various healthcare information systems and allow regional roll-ups to manage the overall changing needs to the inevitable surge on a larger scale. Technology that provides real-time transparent communication and visibility of these needs beyond individual facilities and across locations can smooth surge impacts and move available resources (both staff and supplies) where they are most needed.

Second, this declaration should give hospitals more confidence to implement proactive measures with some likelihood that FEMA reimbursement will follow. In this area in particular, applications like our PanFluAware pandemic management system can assist with the collection and tracking of resources and activities needed to complete the reimbursement documentation package.

Link to WashingtonTimes Article on Obama Declaration Story: http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2009/oct/25/h1n1-a-national-emergency/