Health Records Challenge Biden Push for Covid Data Sharing

Getting information collected on Covid outbreaks and responses from state and local health authorities to the federal government could pose a challenge to the Biden administration’s push to share data across agencies.

The data-sharing initiative is outlined in an executive order President Joe Biden issued Jan. 21. The order directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to review the interoperability of public health data systems nationwide.

Communication between records systems used by doctors or hospitals is often an issue in health care, since information may be maintained differently in different jurisdictions.

“We don’t have a national health records system ...