Evidence map›Paper›PMID 39020438›Full record

ArticleAntimicrobial resistance and infection control2024

A qualitative, multi-centre approach to the current state of digitalisation and automation of surveillance in infection prevention and control in German hospitals.

Michael Eisenmann, Cord Spreckelsen, Vera Rauschenberger, Manuel Krone, Stefanie Kampmeier

Abstract readMulticenter Study
In one paragraph

Article in Antimicrobial resistance and infection control, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
3citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

3 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Current state and potential of hospitals for automated healthcare-associated infection surveillance: data from 24 European countries, 2022 to 2023.Euro surveillance : bulletin Europeen sur les maladies transmissibles = European communicable disease bulletin · 2026
    Article
  2. Article
  3. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

5 authors.

Michael EisenmannInfection Control and Antimicrobial Stewardship Unit, University Hospital Würzburg, Würzburg, Germany. eisenmann_m@ukw.de.
Cord SpreckelsenInstitute of Medical Statistics, Computer and Data Sciences, Jena University Hospital, Jena, Germany.
Vera RauschenbergerInfection Control and Antimicrobial Stewardship Unit, University Hospital Würzburg, Würzburg, Germany.
Manuel KroneInfection Control and Antimicrobial Stewardship Unit, University Hospital Würzburg, Würzburg, Germany.
Stefanie KampmeierInfection Control and Antimicrobial Stewardship Unit, University Hospital Würzburg, Würzburg, Germany.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundHealthcare associated infections (HAI) pose a major threat to healthcare systems resulting in an increased burden of disease. Surveillance plays a key role in rapidly identifying these infections and preventing further transmissions. Alas, in German hospitals, the majority of surveillance efforts have been heavily relying on labour intensive processes like manual chart review. In order to be able to identify further starting points for future digital tools and interventions to aid the surveillance of HAI we aimed to gain an understanding of the current state of digitalisation in the context of the general surveillance organisation in German clinics across all care-levels. The end user perspective of infection prevention and control (IPC) professionals was chosen to identify digital interventions that have the biggest impact on the daily surveillance work routines of IPC professionals. Perceived impediments in the advancement of surveillance digitalisation should be explored.

methodsFollowing the development of an interview guideline, eight IPC professionals from seven German hospitals of different care levels were questioned in semi- structured interviews between December 2022 and January 2023. These included questions about general surveillance organisation, access to digital data sources, software to aid the surveillance process as well as current issues in the surveillance process and implementation of software systems. Subsequently, after full transcription, the interview sections were categorized in code categories (first deductive then inductive coding) and analysed qualitatively.

resultsResults were characterised by high heterogeneity in terms of general surveillance organisation and access to digital data sources. Software configuration of hospital and laboratory information systems (HIS/LIS) as well as patient data management systems (PDMS) varied not only between hospitals of different care levels but also between hospitals of the same care level. Outside research projects, neither fully automatic software nor solutions utilising artificial intelligence have currently been implemented in clinical routine in any of the hospitals.

conclusionsAccess to digital data sources and software is increasingly available to aid surveillance of HAI. Nevertheless, surveillance processes in hospitals analysed in this study still heavily rely on manual processes. In the analysed hospitals, there is an implementation and funding gap of (semi-) automatic surveillance solutions in clinical practice, especially in healthcare facilities of lower care levels.

Indexed as

Cross InfectionHospitalsInfection ControlAutomationGermanyHumansPopulation SurveillanceSoftwareAutomationDigitalisationHealthcare-associated infectionsInteroperabilityIPCSurveillance

Identifiers

PMID39020438
PMCPMC11256362

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Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.