Purpose
Pandemic influenza has the potential to place great strain on the health care system. Effective pandemic preparedness will require the engagement of the entire health community, and health care assets from across the spectrum of care will need to be prepared to meet the increased demands. The overwhelming majority of health care in the United States is delivered by private sector entities, so health care organizations must both exhibit day-to-day resilience and be prepared to respond when an influenza pandemic arises.
Background
An effective healthcare response to a pandemic event requires an overall awareness of the system's capabilities and capacities to form a "common operating picture." Individual healthcare facilities must be prepared to adjust to varying stressors on the system over time through collaboration with diverse partners, effective information sharing, and coordination of response activities. Over the last decade, HHS has made significant investments to assist the healthcare sector in identifying gaps in preparedness, determining specific priorities, and developing plans for building and sustaining healthcare delivery. The following resources are intended to support and encourage a coordinated healthcare systems response to pandemic influenza and other threats.
Clinical Diagnosis and Lab Resources
Critical Infrastructure Planning
These documents provides contingency planning process for a pandemic. Also provides business planners with sector-specific and common pandemic information planning variables keyed to escalating disaster phases.