ISO 16473:2025

International
Standard
ISO 16473
First edition
Healthcare organization
2025-10
management — Pandemic response
— Response resource information
management
Management des organisations de soins de santé — Réponse en
cas de pandémie — Gestion des informations sur les ressources de
réponse
Reference number
© ISO 2025
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ii
Contents Page
Foreword .iv
Introduction .v
1 Scope . 1
2 Normative references . 1
3 Terms and definitions . 1
4 Overview . 2
5 Information management of response resource . 2
5.1 Concept of response resource information management .2
5.2 Components .3
5.2.1 Health facilities .3
5.2.2 Suppliers .4
5.2.3 ICT system of local government .4
5.2.4 Local government .4
5.2.5 National government .5
6 ICT perspective requirements of response resource information management . 5
6.1 Information collection .5
6.2 Information storage .6
6.3 Information disposal .6
6.4 Information distribution .7
6.5 System interaction .7
Bibliography . 8

iii
Foreword
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iv
Introduction
During a public health emergency (PHE), resources such as masks and gloves are extremely important for
an effective and appropriate response.
The rapid spread of a disease within a municipality or in a country can incur various obstacles in an effective
PHE response, especially in terms of PHE response resources. With proper management, resources can be
timely produced, used and distributed to the right place at the right time.
To have proper management, the information used by the information and communication technology
(ICT) system, which is essential in modern society, should be collected and managed in an appropriate
manner. Effective information management enables resource management, including the collection, storage,
and distribution of response resources by health facilities, facilitating better resource control and the
establishment of appropriate response plans.

v
International Standard ISO 16473:2025(en)
Healthcare organization management — Pandemic response
— Response resource information management
1 Scope
This document specifies requirements for the management of information related to response resources
for a public health emergency (PHE) response, from the perspective of information and communication
technology (ICT). This document provides:
— an overview of response resource information management;
— requirements for managing response resource information including:
— information collection;
— information storage;
— information disposal;
— information distribution.
The requirements in this document can only be effectively applied, if information exchange described in
Clause 5 is supported at both municipal and national levels.
2 Normative references
There are no normative references in this document.
3 Terms and definitions
For the purposes of this document, the following terms and definitions apply.
ISO and IEC maintain terminology databases for use in standardization at the following addresses:
— ISO Online browsing platform: available at https:// www .iso .org/ obp
— IEC Electropedia: available at https:// www .electropedia .org
3.1
PHE response resource
public health emergency response resource
medical resource essentially used during a public health emergency
3.2
negative pressure isolation room
NPIR
room where the ventilation system is designed in such a way that the pressure in the room is below that of
the surrounding areas to isolate patients with airborne diseases

3.3
personal protective equipment
PPE
device or appliance designed to be worn or held by an individual for protection against one or more health
and safety hazards
[SOURCE: ISO 15384:2018, 3.12]
3.4
heating, ventilation and air conditioning system
HVAC system
system that provides heating, ventilation or air conditioning for buildings
[SOURCE: ISO 16814:2008, 3.18, modified — the full form "heating, ventilation and air conditioning system"
has been added as a preferred term.]
4 Overview
Personal protective equipment (PPE), such as masks and respirators, are used to protect against the
inhalation of infectious aerosols. Hospital rooms are used to accommodate patients, and temporary
accommodations are needed to accommodate a sharply increasing number of patients. A heating, ventilation,
and air conditioning (HVAC) system is also needed to create negative pressure isolation rooms (NPIRs) to
prevent cross-contamination between rooms. Ventilators for patients with severe respiratory failure, as
well as medicines such as vaccines, drugs, and assessment tools, are also important in responding to a PHE.
Figure 1 illustrates examples of PHE response resources for protection and treatment.
Figure 1 — Examples of resources for responding public health emergency
The rapid spread of disease within a municipality or a country can create various obstacles in PHE response.
For example, there can be a shortage of PPE, which can accelerate the spread of disease. A health facility
in one municipality can lack a sufficient number of rooms, assessment tools, or drugs, while another
municipality can have an abundant number of resources. Local or national governments can address such
obstacles by issuing Emergency Use Authorizations (EUAs), transferring patients to another health facility,
or establishing emergency temporary accommodations. Therefore, effective management of response
resource requires ensuring timely production of these resources in sufficient quantities and their timely
distribution to the right locations for appropriate use.
5 Information management of response resource
5.1 Concept of response resource information management
In a municipality equipped with a well-planed ICT infrastructure, health facilities, suppliers, and the local
government can interact with each other to manage response resources. Figure 2 illustrate the concept of
response resource information management and the role of ICT system within the local government. Health
facilities, such as local clinics or hospitals, provide information about their inventory to the ICT system of
local government. Suppliers provide the information about their production capabilities and inventory. Based

on the information, the local government can manage resources or establish a response plan. Municipalities
can exchange their information with each other to facilitate a collaborated response. In addition, the local
government can interact with the national government for national-level of management.
Key
information flow
administrative flow
Figure 2 — Concept of response resource information management
5.2 Components
5.2.1 Health facilities
Health facilities provide data on their inventory of resources, including PPE, patient room, HVAC systems,
ventilators, medicine, and assessment tools. Data from health facilities can be transmitted either through
real-time data transfers or batch transfers. Depending on the type of data transfer, transmission can
occur via autonomous synchronization among ICT systems, short message service (SMS), instant message,
handwritten messages, phone conversations, or other suitable means.
To obtain the information on resources, health facilities employ diverse approaches such as scanning NFC
tags, QR codes, or manual counting. Health facilities are responsible for reporting the collected information
about response resources. Reports include details on medical supplies, equipment, and medication, the
number of patients, available beds, and staff. Additiona
...