A COVID-19-ready public health surveillance system: The Food and Drug Administration's Sentinel System.

The US Food and Drug Administration's Sentinel System was established in 2009 to use routinely collected electronic health data for improving the national capability to assess post-market medical product safety. Over more than a decade, Sentinel has become an integral part of FDA's surveillance capabilities and has been used to conduct analyses that have contributed to regulatory decisions. FDA's role in the COVID-19 pandemic response has necessitated an expansion and enhancement of Sentinel. Here we describe how the Sentinel System has supported FDA's response to the COVID-19 pandemic. We highlight new capabilities developed, key data generated to date, and lessons learned, particularly with respect to working with inpatient electronic health record data. Early in the pandemic, Sentinel developed a multi-pronged approach to support FDA's anticipated data and analytic needs. It incorporated new data sources, created a rapidly refreshed database, developed protocols to assess the natural history of COVID-19, validated a diagnosis-code based algorithm for identifying patients with COVID-19 in administrative claims data, and coordinated with other national and international initiatives. Sentinel is poised to answer important questions about the natural history of COVID-19 and is positioned to use this information to study the use, safety, and potentially the effectiveness of medical products used for COVID-19 prevention and treatment.

Health Information Management Reimagined: Assessing Current Professional Skills and Industry Demand.

This paper examines the changes affecting the health information management (HIM) professional skill set and industry demand to determine differences affecting practitioners. As the industry continues to experience technological innovation, the responsibilities of the HIM professional are in flux, affecting the required skill set of the changing environment. This research used the American Health Information Management Association salary survey and current job postings to determine whether the workforce has experienced deskilling and whether a theory-practice-gap exists. It also assesses if industry competencies align with the Health Information Management Reimaged perspectives. The results indicate that the workforce has not experienced deskilling, that a theory-practice gap does exist, and that Health Information Management Reimaged is aligned with industry needs.

Delinquent Medical Records: Who Are the Stakeholders for Timely Medical Documentation?

The explosion of electronic documentation associated with Meaningful Use-certified electronic health record systems has led to a massive increase in provider workload for completion and finalization of patient encounters. Delinquency of required documentation affects multiple areas of hospital operations. We present the major stakeholders affected by delinquency of the electronic medical record and examine the differing perspectives to gain insight for successful engagement to reduce the burden of medical record delinquency.

Development of a Weighted Well-Being Assessment Mobile App for Trauma Affected Communities: A Usability Study.

A well-being mobile app was built and tested by performing a usability study in a trauma affected community (TAC). Seven usability tasks were given to social workers during Phase 1. Phase 2 of the usability study was a re-test of the same tasks with the same social workers after refinements were applied. The results showed that most users preferred darker foreground colors, lighter background colors, larger fonts, and larger sized UI components. Statistically significant improvements were found after changes were implemented to the app and included time for page navigation (Z = -2.366, p = 0.018), logout (Z = -1.997, p = 0.046), and item selection in a page (Z = -2.371, p = 0.018). UI positioning and size changes proved to be a significant determinant of user satisfaction based on the positive feedback received from the computer systems usability questionnaire (CSUQ). (User1: p = .000, User 2 withdrew; User3: p = .010, User4: p = .000, User5: p = .001, User6: p = .006, User7: p = .025). HIM professionals assisted in the design, development, and administration of the usability study. This is another area in which HIM professionals are needed when assessing health and wellness in communities affected by trauma.

Personal health information management among healthy older adults: Varying needs and approaches.

OBJECTIVE: With age, older adults experience a greater number of chronic diseases and medical visits, and an increased need to manage their health information. Technological advances in consumer health information technologies (HITs) help patients gather, track, and organize their health information within and outside of clinical settings. However, HITs have not focused on the needs of older adults and their caregivers. The goal of the SOARING (Studying Older Adults and Researching their Information Needs and Goals) Project was to understand older adult personal health information management (PHIM) needs and practices to inform the design of HITs that support older adults. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Drawing on the Work System Model, we took an ecological approach to investigate PHIM needs and practices of older adults in different residential settings. We conducted in-depth interviews and surveys with adults 60 years of age and older. RESULTS: We performed on-site in-person interview sessions with 88 generally healthy older adults in various settings including independent housing, retirement communities, assisted living, and homelessness. Our analysis revealed 5 key PHIM activities that older adults engage in: seeking, tracking, organizing, sharing health information, and emergency planning. We identified 3 major themes influencing older adults' practice of PHIM: (1) older adults are most concerned with maintaining health and preventing illness, (2) older adults frequently involve others in PHIM activities, and (3) older adults' approach to PHIM is situational and context-dependent. DISCUSSION: Older adults' approaches to PHIM are dynamic and sensitive to changes in health, social networks, personal habits, motivations, and goals. CONCLUSIONS: PHIM tools that meet the needs of older adults should accommodate the dynamic nature of aging and variations in individual, organizational, and social contexts.

Vigilância Epidemiológica estadual no enfrentamento da pandemia pela COVID-19 no Brasil: um relato de experiência / State Epidemiological Surveillance in combating the COVID-19 pandemic in Brazil: an experience report / Vigilancia Epidemiológica estatal en el combate a la pandemia por COVID-19 en Brasil: informe de experiência

Objetivo: sistematizar a experiência do estado do Espírito Santo no enfrentamento da COVID-19, baseando-se na vivência enquanto equipe gestora e operacional da vigilância epidemiológica estadual, no período de março de 2020 a março de 2021. Método: trata-se de um estudo descritivo, do tipo relato de experiência. Os dados foram obtidos por meio de canais oficiais, alimentados por um sistema de notificação em saúde adotado pelo estado do Espírito Santo e por planilhas enviadas diariamente pelos estabelecimentos de saúde. Resultados: observou-se que a aproximação entre a gestão estadual e municipal facilitou a implementação das orientações instituídas e a consolidação das medidas em todo território capixaba, vale salientar que outros órgãos governamentais auxiliaram nesse processo. Conclusão: os desdobramentos exigidos na gestão da pandemia evidenciam a importância da Vigilância em Saúde e o papel estratégico da Vigilância Epidemiológica no controle da pandemia, e na tomada de decisão e direcionamento de recursos humanos e financeiros.

Objective: to systematize the experience of the state of Espírito Santo in facing COVID-19, based on the experience as a manager and operational team of the state epidemiological surveillance, in the period from March 2020 to March 2021. Method: this is a descriptive study, of the experience report type. The data were obtained through official channels, fed by a health notification system adopted by the State of Espírito Santo and by spreadsheets sent daily by health establishments. Results: it was observed that the approximation between state and municipal management facilitated the implementation of the instituted guidelines and the consolidation of the measures in the entire territory of the state of Espírito Santo. Conclusion: it is concluded that the developments required in the management of the pandemic highlight the importance of Health Surveillance and the strategic role of the Epidemiological Surveillance in the control of the pandemic, and in the decision making and direction of human and financial resources

Objetivo: sistematizar la experiencia de estado de Espírito Santo en el enfrentamiento del COVID-19, a partir de la experiencia como equipo gestora y operacional de la vigilancia epidemiológica estatal, de marzo de 2020 a marzo de 2021. Método: se trata de un estudio descriptivo, tipo relato de experiencia. Los datos se obtuvieron a través de canales oficiales, alimentados por un sistema de notificación sanitaria adoptado por el Estado de Espírito Santo y por planillas enviadas diariamente por los establecimientos de salud. Resultados: se observó que la aproximación entre la gestión estatal y municipal facilitó la implementación de orientaciones instituidas y la consolidación de medidas en todo el territorio del estado de Espírito Santo, cabe mencionar que otras agencias gubernamentales asistieron en este proceso. Conclusión: se concluye que los desdoblamientos exigidos en la gestión de la pandemia evidenciaron la importancia de la Vigilancia en Salud y el rol estratégico de la Vigilancia Epidemiológica en el control de la pandemia y en la toma de decisiones y direccionamiento de recursos humanos y financieros

Sistemas de Informação em Saúde no apoio à gestão da Atenção Primária à Saúde: revisão integrativa / Health Information Systems to support Primary Health Care management: an integrative review / Sistemas de Información de Salud para apoyar la gestión de la Atención Primaria de Salud: revisión integradora

O objetivo deste estudo foi analisar a utilização dos Sistemas de Informação em Saúde para a construção da sala de situação na Atenção Primária à Saúde. Trata-se de uma revisão integrativa realizada por meio de busca de artigos na íntegra, nas bases de dados BDENF, Lilacs, Medline, SciELO, PubMed e Cochrane. Foram analisados sete artigos, os quais foram apresentados em três categorias. Os sistemas de informação apoiam a sala de situação na coleta, no processamento e na divulgação de resultados, na análise e na comparação de indicadores, no planejamento, na gestão e na avaliação em saúde. Por fim, percebeu-se que os sistemas de informação contribuem para a construção da sala de situação subsidiando a atuação da gestão local na formação de indicadores de saúde e na implementação de ações.

The aim of this study was to analyze the use of Health Information Systems in the construction of the situation room in Primary Health Care. This is an integrative review performed by searching full articles in the BDENF, Lilacs, Medline, SciELO, PubMed and Cochrane databases. Seven articles were analyzed and presented in three categories. Information systems support the situation room in the collection, processing and dissemination of results, in the analysis and comparison of indicators, and in the health planning, management and evaluation. In the end, we realized that information systems contribute to the construction of the situation room, supporting local management actions in the establishment of health indicators and the implementation of actions.

El objetivo de este estudio fue analizar el uso de los Sistemas de Información de Salud en la construcción de la sala de situación en Atención Primaria de Salud. Esta es una revisión integradora realizada mediante la búsqueda de artículos completos en las bases de datos BDENF, Lilacs, Medline, SciELO, PubMed y Cochrane. Siete artículos fueron analizados y presentados en tres categorías. Los sistemas de información apoyan la sala de situación en la recolección, lo procesamiento y la difusión de resultados, en la análisis y la comparación de indicadores, y en la planificación, gestión y evaluación de la salud. Finalmente, se dio cuenta de que los sistemas de información contribuyen a la construcción de la sala de situación, apoyando las acciones de gestión local en lo establecimiento de indicadores de salud y la implementación de acciones.

Consolidating Emergency Department-specific Data to Enable Linkage with Large Administrative Datasets.

INTRODUCTION: The American Hospital Association (AHA) has hospital-level data, while the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has patient-level data. Merging these with other distinct databases would permit analyses of hospital-based specialties, units, or departments, and patient outcomes. One distinct database is the National Emergency Department Inventory (NEDI), which contains information about all EDs in the United States. However, a challenge with merging these databases is that NEDI lists all US EDs individually, while the AHA and CMS group some EDs by hospital network. Consolidating data for this merge may be preferential to excluding grouped EDs. Our objectives were to consolidate ED data to enable linkage with administrative datasets and to determine the effect of excluding grouped EDs on ED-level summary results. METHODS: Using the 2014 NEDI-USA database, we surveyed all New England EDs. We individually matched NEDI EDs with corresponding EDs in the AHA and CMS. A "group match" was assigned when more than one NEDI ED was matched to a single AHA or CMS facility identification number. Within each group, we consolidated individual ED data to create a single observation based on sums or weighted averages of responses as appropriate. RESULTS: Of the 195 EDs in New England, 169 (87%) completed the NEDI survey. Among these, 130 (77%) EDs were individually listed in AHA and CMS, while 39 were part of groups consisting of 2-3 EDs but represented by one facility ID. Compared to the individually listed EDs, the 39 EDs included in a "group match" had a larger number of annual visits and beds, were more likely to be freestanding, and were less likely to be rural (all P<0.05). Two grouped EDs were excluded because the listed ED did not respond to the NEDI survey; the remaining 37 EDs were consolidated into 19 observations. Thus, the consolidated dataset contained 149 observations representing 171 EDs; this consolidated dataset yielded summary results that were similar to those of the 169 responding EDs. CONCLUSION: Excluding grouped EDs would have resulted in a non-representative dataset. The original vs consolidated NEDI datasets yielded similar results and enabled linkage with large administrative datasets. This approach presents a novel opportunity to use characteristics of hospital-based specialties, units, and departments in studies of patient-level outcomes, to advance health services research.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 2019 novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) information management: addressing national health-care and public health needs for standardized data definitions and codified vocabulary for data exchange.

OBJECTIVE: The 2019 novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak progressed rapidly from a public health (PH) emergency of international concern (World Health Organization [WHO], 30 January 2020) to a pandemic (WHO, 11 March 2020). The declaration of a national emergency in the United States (13 March 2020) necessitated the addition and modification of terminology related to COVID-19 and development of the disease's case definition. During this period, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and standard development organizations released guidance on data standards for reporting COVID-19 clinical encounters, laboratory results, cause-of-death certifications, and other surveillance processes for COVID-19 PH emergency operations. The CDC COVID-19 Information Management Repository was created to address the need for PH and health-care stakeholders at local and national levels to easily obtain access to comprehensive and up-to-date information management resources. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We introduce the clinical and health-care informatics community to the CDC COVID-19 Information Management Repository: a new, national COVID-19 information management tool. We provide a description of COVID-19 informatics resources, including data requirements for COVID-19 data reporting. RESULTS: We demonstrate the CDC COVID-19 Information Management Repository's categorization and management of critical COVID-19 informatics documentation and standards. We also describe COVID-19 data exchange standards, forms, and specifications. CONCLUSIONS: This information will be valuable to clinical and PH informaticians, epidemiologists, data analysts, standards developers and implementers, and information technology managers involved in the development of COVID-19 situational awareness and response reporting and analytics.

Determinants of improved data consistency across routine immunization data tools for health facilities in Kano State, Nigeria.

INTRODUCTION: in this study, determinants of improved data consistency for routine immunization information at health facilities was measured to identify associated factors. METHODS: between June and August 2015, 1055 HFs were visited across 44 Local Government Areas in Kano state. We assessed data consistency, frequency of supportive supervision visits, availability of trained staff and attendance to monthly LGA RI review meetings. We compared RI monthly summary forms (MSF) versus national health management information system summary form (NHMIS) and vaccine management form 1a (VM1a) versus HF vaccine utilization summary monthly summary (HFVUM) for consistency. Data consistency at HF was determined at <+10% between number of children reportedly immunized, and doses of vaccine opened using 3 antigens (BCG, Penta and Measles). Levels of discrepancy <10% were considered as good data consistency. Bivariate and multivariate analysis used to determine association. RESULTS: data Consistency was observed in 195 (18.5%) HFs between (MSF vs NHMIS) and 90 (8.5%) HFs between (VM1a vs HFVUM). Consistency between MSF vs NHMIS was associated with receiving one or more SS visits in the previous month (p=0.001), data collection tools availability (p=0.001), recent attendance to monthly LGA RI review meeting and availability of trained staff. Data consistency between VM1a form and the HF VU summary was associated with a recent documented SS visit (p=0.05) and availability of trained staff (p=0.05). CONCLUSION: low level of data consistency was observed in Kano. Enhanced SS visits and availability of trained staff are associated with improved data quality.

Saúde digital: uma estratégia para manter a assistência à saúde de pessoas que vivem com doenças não transmissíveis durante a pandemia de COVID-19 / Salud digital: una estrategia de continuidad asistencial para personas con enfermedades no transmisibles durante la COVID-19 / Digital health: a strategy to maintain health care for people living with noncommunicable diseases during COVID-19

As doenças não transmissíveis (DNTs) são a principal causa de morte e incapacidade em todo o mundo. O controle eficaz dessas doenças crônicas depende em grande parte de serviços continuados, responsivos, acessíveis e de qualidade, além de engajamento e autocontrole satisfatórios por parte dos pacientes. A saúde digital, em especial as teleconsultas médicas, os prontuários eletrônicos e as prescrições eletrônicas, já demonstrou ser vantajosa para assegurar a continuidade da assistência, principalmente quando os serviços são interrompidos, além do monitoramento e da avaliação de intervenções em DNTs.

Las enfermedades no transmisibles (ENT) son la primera causa de muerte y discapacidad en el mundo. El tratamiento eficaz de estos trastornos crónicos depende en gran medida de la continuidad de unos servicios receptivos, accesibles y de calidad, así como de la participación de los pacientes y su autocuidado. Está comprobado que la salud digital ­en particular la telemedicina y las historias clínicas y recetas electrónicas­ es ventajosa para resguardar la continuidad de la atención, especialmente cuando hay alteraciones de los servicios, además de facilitar el seguimiento y evaluación de las intervenciones contra las ENT.

Noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) are the main cause of death and disability worldwide. Effective management of these chronic conditions depends largely on continuous, responsive, accessible, and quality services and successful patient engagement and self-management. Digital health, and in particular telemedicine visits, electronic records, and electronic prescriptions, have already demonstrated having advantages in successfully ensuring continuity of care, especially when services are disrupted, as well as monitoring and evaluating interventions for NCDs.

Information Management in the Emergency Department.

Information management in the emergency department (ED) is a challenge for all providers. The volume of information required to care for each patient and to keep the ED functioning is immense. It must be managed through varying means of communication and in connection with ED information systems. Management of information in the ED is imperfect; different modes and methods of identification, interpretation, action, and communication can be beneficial or harmful to providers, patients, and departmental flow. This article reviews the state of information management in the ED and proposes recommendations to improve the management of information in the future.

COVID-19 Information Systems and Digital Health: After-Action Review of the First 100 Days in Quarantine / Los sistemas de información y la salud digital en la pandemia de COVID-19: Examen posterior a la acción de los 100 primeros días de cuarentena

In just a few months, the COVID-19 pandemic has had a disruptive impact on all sectors of society: on how we live, how we govern ourselves, how we mobilize, how we work, how we educate ourselves, and how nations manage and how we manage our health ourselves. In short, it has targeted many social structures that we believed to be fixed. As for the public health sector, many lessons have emerged to improve the response to future pandemics but also to improve the health system from the perspective of information systems for health and finally of digital health.

En apenas unos meses, la pandemia de COVID-19 ha alterado profundamente todos los sectores de la sociedad: nuestra forma de vivir, de gobernarnos, de desplazarnos, de trabajar y de estudiar, así como la manera en que las naciones y nosotros mismos manejamos la salud. En resumen, ha alterado muchas estructuras sociales que creíamos firmemente establecidas. En el caso del sector de la salud pública, se han extraído muchas enseñanzas que permitirán mejorar la respuesta a las pandemias en el futuro, además de mejorar el sistema de salud desde la perspectiva de los sistemas de información para la salud y, finalmente, de la salud digital.

Recomendaciones para la implementación de la metodología CICOM durante la respuesta COVID-19 / Recommendations for the implementation of the CICOM methodology during the COVID-19 response

Las recomendaciones técnicas del presente documento tienen como objetivo orientar sobre la metodología para implementar las Células de Información y Coordinación Médica (CICOM) como función clave de los COE de salud para facilitar la toma de decisión en la expansión de capacidades a través del despliegue de equipos médicos de emergencia y la instalación de sitios alternativos de atención médica (SAAM) y en cooperación con las redes integrales de servicios de salud y los sistemas de atención prehospitalaria.

What Caused the Outbreak of COVID-19 in China: From the Perspective of Crisis Management.

Since the first known case of a COVID-19 infected patient in Wuhan, China on 8 December 2019, COVID-19 has spread to more than 200 countries, causing a worldwide public health crisis. The existing literature fails to examine what caused this sudden outbreak from a crisis management perspective. This article attempts to fill this research gap through analysis of big data, officially released information and other social media sources to understand the root cause of the crisis as it relates to China's current management system and public health policy. The article draws the following conclusions: firstly, strict government control over information was the main reason for the early silencing of media announcements, which directly caused most people to be unprepared and unaware of COVID-19. Secondly, a choice between addressing a virus with an unknown magnitude and nature, and mitigating known public panic during a politically and culturally sensitive time, lead to falsehood and concealment. Thirdly, the weak autonomous management power of local public health management departments is not conducive for providing a timely response to the crisis. Finally, the privatization of many state-owned hospitals led to the unavailability of public health medical resources to serve affected patients in the Wuhan and Hubei Province. This article suggests that China should adopt a Singaporean-style public health crisis information management system to ensure information disclosure and information symmetry and should use it to monitor public health crises in real time. In addition, the central government should adopt the territorial administration model of a public health crisis and increase investment in public health in China.

[What place for French morbidity registries in the era of big data?] / Quelle place pour les registres de morbidité à l'ère des données massives de santé ?

The recent opening of massive health databases, as well as the development of methods and tools adapted to their data processing, questions the French model of "morbidity registry". In France in 2019, nearly 61 health registries were operating. As defined by law, these registries identify exhaustively all patients with a given disease in a given territory. Established several decades ago, these registries are part of the French surveillance system that is used for research and evaluation purposes. Since the advent of recent technological progress, large-scale databases are made available to researchers and it is possible with these databases to answer questions initially assigned to the registries. What is the place of such registries in this new context: are they obsolete or still useful? Should they be opposed to the new tools or are they complementary to them, and if so, what is their place in the new French public health ecosystem? The objective of this work was to assess the roles and missions of existing registries and to reflect on their positioning in this new environment. The French model of registry is sometimes questioned because of the complexity of its circuits, requiring a significant amount of human resources. However, the data that constitute them, validated by cross-checking information from several sources, are of very high quality, and make it possible to validate the data in the new databases (National Health Data System (NSDS) or Hospital Data Warehouses). Registries and new databases are in fact complementary, and far from jeopardizing this model, the recent opening of these databases represents an opportunity for registries to modernize their operations and respond to new missions.