Closing the seams - Developing an integrated approach to health system disaster preparedness

A report by PricewaterhouseCoopers’ Health Research Institute

Executive Summary

When a disaster hits, Americans rely on a fragmented healthcare system to miraculously mount a timely, cohesive, and effective recovery effort. Yet, the carefully orchestrated and sequenced medical responses to disasters lean on a disjointed health system.

During the 9/11 disaster, the number of fatalities outnumbered immediate casualties in need of medical assistance. If the situation had been reversed, would the health and medical community have been able to handle it? This is a difficult question, but one that must be answered as we prepare plans and budgets and evaluate such questions as: “Are we there yet?”, “How much money is sufficient?”, and “How effective are our plans?”

PricewaterhouseCoopers’ Health Research Institute (HRI) examined the disaster preparedness of our health and medical system. We found that facility and staff resources are limited, public health and private medical sector plans are inadequately coordinated, communications and tracking systems are incompatible, and funding is not sufficient to support development of a sustainable infrastructure for an effective response. Since 2002, Congress has appropriated nearly USD $8 billion for disaster preparedness, yet there is little accountability to gauge our level of preparedness or progress.

Closing the seams examines the preparedness of our healthcare system, identifies gaps, and highlights emerging solutions and innovative best practices that can be leveraged to help providers and communities deliver healthcare in the face of the unknown. We also provide a framework to help organizations, communities, and society work together to provide assistance when a disaster occurs.