[An information system for hospital hygiene. I. Data acquisition, data bank retrieval and presentation of data]

Area of Science:

• Medical Informatics
• Microbiology
• Hospital Epidemiology

Context:

• Hospital-acquired infections necessitate rapid access to microbiological data for effective control.
• Current methods may delay critical information delivery to clinicians.
• A need exists for integrated systems to manage infection control data.

Purpose:

• To develop and demonstrate an information system for efficient acquisition, online storage, and retrieval of infection control data.
• To provide clinicians with immediate access to patient microbiological data, including species frequency and antibiotic susceptibility.
• To support timely clinical decision-making in preventing and managing hospital infections.

Summary:

• A retrospective database of approximately 5000 microbiological isolates from 1000 intensive care patients was established.
• The system features user-friendly data entry with validation checks and a multi-key indexed file system.
• Data retrieval is flexible, allowing selective searches by keys (species, specimen, patient ID) or broad searches across time periods, including specific antibiotic susceptibility results.

Impact:

• Enables immediate evaluation of microbiological data through graphical displays (color monitor, plotter).
• Facilitates efficient data management for approximately 5000 microbiological isolates.
• Aims to improve the control and prevention of hospital infections through timely data availability.