title: [Healthcare in snapshots].
abstract: Healthcare is becoming more complex and healthcare providers are often only involved in a small part of the process of patient care. Measuring the outcome of the process, in this case healthcare-related infections, with feedback to the professionals involved is indispensable for assessment and improvement of quality of care. Prevalence surveys are used frequently to determine the quality of the process. This method has important limitations that can lead to a biased result. This problem is discussed on the basis of a case and a recent publication on healthcare-related infections occurring after discharge.
authors.affiliation: Amphia Ziekenhuis, Laboratorium voor Microbiologie en Infectiepreventie, Breda; Elisabeth Tweesteden Ziekenhuis, Laboratorium voor Medische Microbiologie en Immunologie, Tilburg; en UMC Utrecht, Julius Centrum voor Gezondheidswetenschappen en Eerstelijns Geneeskunde, Utrecht.
authors.forename: Jan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Kluytmans
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D003142:Communication; D003266:Continuity of Patient Care; D003428:Cross Infection / Q000453:epidemiology*; D005260:Female; D006282:Health Personnel / Q000458:organization & administration / Q000523:psychology; D006801:Humans; D009426:Netherlands; D010351:Patient Discharge; D011787:Quality of Health Care