Yes, it certainly appears there is room for improvement.

For example, apparently Portland Mountain Rescue had a "Ready Team" on the mountain, but that team only heard about the fall from other descending climbers. It seems odd that after the initial call, the sheriff's dispatch didn't contact the ready team and ask them to investigate? Did dispatch even know the ready team was there and available? And it also seems odd that the ready team apparently had no way to check with the Sherriff dispatch to see if they knew anything?

Also, Mt Hood has a couple of large ski areas on it's lower flanks, all of which have expert Ski Patrols. There is Timberline and Palmer on the S side, and Mt Hood Meadows on the E side. A lot of skiers also climb high on the mountain above those ski areas (into mountaineering terrain) to ski off. The skier/climber issue does seem to have been a factor.

Another issue that may be significant is that when 911 transfered the call to the Clackamas Co Sheriff's office, it was handled by a "community service officer" who handled the call. Sounds like there might have been a training/experience issue there.

Finally, there might be some issues with geography and nomenclature. The person placing the call apparently said the accident was "just above timberline". He may have meant this as on the S side of the mountain, high above the Timberline Lodge and ski area. The sheriff's employee seems to have interpreted this as just above timberline in the elevation sense, which would have put it in ski terrain.

There are other possible issues that may cause problems on Mt Hood. Mt Hood is on the county line between Clackamas and Hood River counties. Hence SAR responsibilities are split between two counties. However, that doesn't seem to have been a factor in this case.

Communication (in every sense of the word) is often the big issue when rescues don't go well!