CDC Base Case

By Doug Bartholomew  |  Posted 2006-03-06 Email Print this article Print
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

The federal agency says its real-time data gathering can ward off a potential flu pandemic. Not every health-care provider is convinced.


CDC Base Case Headquarters: 1600 Clifton Rd., Atlanta, GA 30333
Phone: (404) 639-3311
Business: Federal agency charged with preventing the spread of diseases.
Associate Director, Technology: Barry Rhodes
Annual Budget for BioSense Project: $50 million
Challenge: Establish a system to detect, track and share information with hospitals if there's a flu pandemic.


BASELINE GOALS:

  • Get at least another 300 hospitals to transmit patient data by year-end, in addition to 33 online as of Jan. 1, 2006.
  • Obtain reports within 15 minutes, instead of two to three days.
  • Ensure that the number of U.S. bird flu cases remains at zero.

    Centers for Disease Control: Hurry Up and Wait
    The federal agency has built a system to more quickly collect and share information with hospitals if there is a widespread outbreak of an infectious disease—whether it's the avian flu or another health threat. However, some hospitals are resisting the project.
    2004 ACTUAL FEB '06 ACTUAL DEC '06 GOAL
    Hospitals in CDC Network 0* 33 300+
    Method of Reporting Incidents to CDC Formats for reporting diagnoses vary HL7 health-care reporting standard for participating hospitals HL7 health-care reporting format
    Timeliness of Hospital Reports to CDC 2 to 3 days Every 15 minutes for participating hospitals Every 15 minutes
    Source: CDC *does not include hospitals run by veterans affairs, navy and army. They currently report the number of patients with infectious diseases every day

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    Doug Bartholomew is a career journalist who has covered information technology for more than 15 years. A former senior editor at IndustryWeek and InformationWeek, his freelance features have appeared in New York magazine and the Los Angeles Times Magazine. He has a B.S. in Journalism from Northwestern University.
     
     
     
     
     
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