title: An intranet-based automated system for the surveillance of nosocomial infections: prospective validation compared with physicians' self-reports.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To examine the reliability of the data produced by an automated system for the surveillance of nosocomial infections.
  
  
  METHODS
  A 906-bed, tertiary-care teaching hospital.
  
  
  METHODS
  Three surveillance techniques were concurrently performed in seven high-risk units during an 11-week period: automated surveillance (AS) based on the prospective processing of computerized medical records; laboratory-based ward surveillance (LBWS) based on the retrospective verification by ward clinicians of weekly reports of positive bacteriologic results; and a reference standard (RS) consisting of the infection control team reviewing case records of patients with positive bacteriology results. Bacteremia, urinary tract infections, and catheter-related infections were recorded for all inpatients. The performances (sensitivity, specificity, and time consumption) of AS and LBWS were compared with those of RS.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Of 548 positive bacteriology samples included during the study period, 229 (42%) were classified as nosocomial infections. The overall sensitivity was 91% and 59% for AS and LBWS, respectively. The two methods had the same overall specificity value (91%). Kappa measures of agreement were 0.81 and 0.54 for AS and LBWS, respectively. AS required less time to collect data (54 seconds per week per unit) compared with LBWS (7 minutes and 43 seconds per week per unit) and RS (37 minutes and 15 seconds per week per unit).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our results confirm that the retrospective review of charts and laboratory data by physicians lacks sensitivity for the surveillance of nosocomial infections. The intranet-based automated method developed for this purpose was more accurate and less time-consuming than the weekly, retrospective LBWS method.
authors.affiliation: Département de Biostatistiques et d'Information Hospitalier, Hôpital Henri Mondor, Assistance Publique-Hôpitaux de Paris, Créteil, France.
authors.forename: Samir
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Bouam
authors.forename: Emmanuelle
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Girou
authors.forename: Christian
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Brun-Buisson
authors.forename: Harry
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Karadimas
authors.forename: Eric
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Lepage
mesh_terms: D001331:Automation; D003428:Cross Infection / Q000453:epidemiology*; D006751:Hospital Information Systems; D006784:Hospitals, Teaching / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D008485:Medical Audit; D008499:Medical Records / Q000592:standards* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D010820:Physicians; D011159:Population Surveillance; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D014342:Truth Disclosure