Biology Reference
In-Depth Information
Table 11.3
Key Informants
Key informant roles
Number interviewed
Hospital public health epidemiologist
4
Hospital infection control manager
2
County public health preparedness coordinator
1
PHRST personnel
1
State epidemiologists/section chiefs/directors
4
Hospital clinical applications analyst
1
NC DETECT staff
3
Other
2
Total
18
11.3. Findings
11.3.1 How Has biosurveillance been used?
The utility of NC DETECT for early detection was limited, in the view of
some informants, because some conditions and illnesses would never or
rarely present themselves in a hospital setting or some outbreaks may be
too small to detect. As one informant explained,
“
It does not pick up small
things; it does not pick up single patients. Let's say I had one patient with
botulism. They've got botulism surveillance now and I have been checking
that, but I would probably be told by a physician that I have a botulism case,
before I picked it up on NC DETECT.”
Nonetheless, key informants voiced a clear consensus that NC DETECT
was a valuable tool in the early investigational phase of an outbreak. For
example, one hospital-based user reported that for certain syndromes,
such as meningoencephalitis, she investigates all cases to confirm whether
it is the first report of the disease. In the course of investigating signals in
NC DETECT, this user further examines admissions data, laboratory data,
and the ED logs to generate reports for other stakeholders. She therefore
uses NC DETECT to initially identify possible outbreak and alert others,
and then uses additional data sources to complete her investigations of
signals.
Key informants have used NC DETECT most extensively for
situation aware-
ness
. Several hospital-based users mentioned how NC DETECT has been
helpful in monitoring disease trends. The winter of 2006-2007 was a particu-
larly severe season for Norovirus in North Carolina (and across the United
States). NC DETECT was used by these key informants to monitor Norovirus
outbreaks in the community through the gastrointestinal syndrome.
