title: Monitoring: surveillance for nosocomial infections and uses for assessing quality of care.
abstract: Infectious complications of hospitalization are monitored through surveillance programs in most facilities. Information about the patient, the site involved, the associated organism, and risk factors is routinely recorded, analyzed, and reported within the hospital. The Joint Commission on Accreditation of Hospitals has supported this epidemiologic surveillance model for infections. The methods used to accomplish the task differ somewhat among hospitals. The epidemiology of noninfectious complications and the methods for monitoring them are more diverse and are not described in infection control literature. The epidemiologic principles, investigation methods, and management strategies for correcting problems are very similar to those used for infectious complications. This article reviews selected publications from the infection control and quality assurance literature for descriptions of monitoring programs, indications for monitoring, methods employed, and uses of the information obtained.
mesh_terms: D003428:Cross Infection / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000517:prevention & control; D003953:Diagnosis-Related Groups; D004812:Epidemiologic Methods; D006748:Hospital Departments / Q000458:organization & administration*; D006801:Humans; D011340:Problem Solving; D011785:Quality Assurance, Health Care