1. The specific data items in the report;
2. The underlying tables and data fields in the database that are used to generate the data report. Is the data source of the report from a single table or multiple tables?
3. How the data are entered into the system? In addition to generate the data report under discussion, are these data used for other purposes?
4. Potential issues you have found about the report (data completeness, consistency, timely update, etc.).
REPLY TO THIS STUDENT :
One report that is used a lot in Infection Control is a ‘Possible CAUTI’ report. (CAUTI stands for Catheter Associated Urinary Tract Infection).
The ‘criteria’ for the report is Instant Used, Primary Infection, Abnormal?, Procedure, Lab Status, Has NHSN pathogen type?, Collected during patient stay, Workqueue group, and Is NHSN device associated? So for example, we have the Primary Infection criteria set to Urinary Tract Infection and the Abnormal? criteria set to Yes.
When the report has been generated the fields are: Reviewed, Last Review Reason, Patient Name, MRN, Unit and Room, Admit Date, Collected, Source, Pathogen (A), Pathogen (B), Pathogen (C), NHSN RIT? (Repeat Infection Timeframe), Case Made?
The patient falls into this report for a few reasons, one is that they have a positive urine culture. If they have catheter which is entered by nurses in flowsheet documentation. Also if the physician has documented that they have a urinary tract infection as a primary infection in note documentation.
Unfortunately, there are times when there are patients that generate reports when they shouldn’t be. In which case, the infection preventionist has to go into their chart and verify if they should or shouldn’t be on that report. Usually incorrect documentation tends to give us the most false positives. The next is our EHR system, they tend to have very generic limitations for what causes a patient to generate a report, and we usually have to go into the system and make updates and make those limitations a lot more specific.
This report has two different uses, one is for government report to NHSN (National Healthcare Safety Network) which is required by law. The other is for internal use. Our Infection Preventionists keep an eye on patients, follow trends, and provide education.