TheraDoc's patient safety surveillance system helps hospitals manage their H1N1 responses effectively

As the battle against the H1N1 influenza outbreak continues, hospitals are on the front lines, charged with identifying, treating, monitoring, and reporting flu cases—as well as preventing their spread to other patients and hospital personnel. To facilitate this arduous task, a growing number of U.S. hospitals are using a patient safety surveillance system developed by TheraDoc that helps them more effectively coordinate their responses to this serious public health threat.

TheraDoc’s computerized infection surveillance technology—powered by its Expert System Platform^®—automates the collection and analysis of patient clinical data from a range of sources within the hospital. Alerts help healthcare providers quickly identify and isolate H1N1 cases, and workflow tools allow them to track infected patients and monitor the progression of an outbreak. The system also helps coordinate communication among patient care teams and hospital executives, and facilitates reporting to public health officials.

According to Stanley Pestotnik, M.S., R.Ph., president and chief executive officer of TheraDoc, as the H1N1 outbreak unfolded earlier this year, TheraDoc technology helped hospitals swiftly respond to this unexpected challenge and prepare for a possible escalation of the outbreak during the winter flu season, as well as for other threats such as healthcare-acquired infections and drug resistant infectious diseases. (See Managing Infection Control article.)

“The H1N1 influenza outbreak illustrates the value of TheraDoc’s computerized surveillance technology to address a broad range of patient care issues,” Pestotnik said. “Hospitals that have adopted TheraDoc may not have had influenza surveillance in mind when they selected our platform but quickly turned to the technology for real-time information to help them manage this challenging situation as quickly and efficiently as possible. We are working closely with hospital users to ensure that the appropriate alerts, isolation management, and reporting are in place in preparation for a possible escalation in H1N1 influenza cases.”

Pestotnik said that while TheraDoc technology is helping many hospitals manage their H1N1 responses today, seven years ago at the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, public health officials and infectious disease experts at the University of Utah studied the novel surveillance technology for the rapid detection of disease clusters and agents of bioterrorism in the athletes’ village and surrounding population. TheraDoc was instrumental in the early identification and management of a flu outbreak in the athletes’ village.

TheraDoc provides real-time information to rapidly identify, confirm, and document infections based on Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) guidelines. The system monitors lab orders and results, microbiology results, pharmacy data, patient demographics, vital signs, ADT (admission, discharge, and transfer), and other data—providing the most comprehensive interfacing capabilities in the industry. The system alerts clinicians about potential healthcare-associated infections, infectious disease outbreaks, adverse drug events, or changes in patients’ conditions so that appropriate and timely interventions can be made. TheraDoc surveillance technology also supports and facilitates standardized reporting of notifiable diseases, emerging infections, and other data to local, state, and national public health agencies such as the CDC.