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Most hospitals have infection control programs which are aimed at the
early detection and aggressive treatment of infections. The earlier an
infection is discovered and treated, the less likely it is to spread to
the community. For that reason, the Public Health Department requires
that hospitals report certain types of communicable diseases, some of
which can be detected through microbiology culture surveillance.
Reportable Diseases Monitor is an expert system that
monitors Microbiology culture data from a hospital's laboratory system
automatically generates a
Reportable Diseases form including all relevant patient
and clinical data when a culture representing a "reportable" infection is detected.
A pilot program to automate the transfer of these data to local, county, and state epidemiology offices
has been undertaken.
The system encodes State of Missouri Public Health Department rules for infections with significant
public health risks
and which are required to be reported
to the state.
Reportable Diseases Monitor has been deployed at Barnes and
Jewish Hospitals, tertiary-care teaching hospitals in St. Louis, since February 1995.
Languages/Shells Used: CLIPS, Sybase ISQL scripts, Bourne shell scripts.
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Medical Informatics at Washington University in St. Louis