Coordination of data between collectors

This page provides guidelines how much communication should happen when patients re transferred from one ward/unit where we collect to another.

Things that should be communicated

Information related to:

• CAP-Community Acquired Pneumonia vs VAP - Ventilator Associated Pneumonia vs HAP-Hospital Acquired Pneumonia
• Central Line Related Blood stream Infection (CLR-BSI)
• cultured Pathogens that are returned after a patient moves on to another unit (see also Lab and culture reports)

Things that should not be communicated outside of unusual circumstances

Don't coordinate times, regular collection instructions for those are good enough. EPR times are what we are currently using, except for ICU the Arrive DtTm is the first vitals time.

• Dispo DtTm
• Arrive DtTm

z We have discussed this at Task meeting and will tweak these instructions. Val is working on this, updates coming, just some working notes for now: comparing admit/discharge times sharing serials if that is still done anywhere, I think not... if anyone is still sharing a location and serial pool please post here... "One more point, D5 & B3 use consecutive numbers also. These would be hard to keep track of without a paper log for the really quick admissions & discharges that are sometimes seen on B3.--CMarks 13:22, 2012 October 1 (CDT)"

• SMW

• Cargo

• Categories

When you do communicate

Use the "generate email" button to inform the collector at the next/previous location.

Also use the "generate email" button to send notifications re. VAPs/CLI. See Contacting Quality Officer and Manager for VAPs and CLIs.

Reasons why remaining collection should be done independently

Data collection should be done independently for diagnosis and comorbids. For patients who moved from one unit or ward to another unit and ward, it is essential that collection of diagnosis and comorbids must be done independently by the data collector of each unit for the following reasons:

1. Comprehensiveness/Completeness of data - We would like to collect as much information as possible about the patient’s status/condition. If more than one person collects data on the same patient independently, the items missed/overlooked by one person may have been recorded by another.
2. A measure of precision or repeatability – In a scientific methodology, a measurement process is considered valid if it is accurate and precise. A measure of precision is related to the degree by which repeated measurements under unchanged conditions will show the same results. We are interested to know the degree of ‘same ‘or ‘different’ results our measurement process has. In the past, we did a peer audit but did not have the chance to continue since then for various reasons. We have the opportunity to do this currently in selective data (e.g. diagnosis and comorbids) and particularly for the group of patients who stayed in more than ward/unit during a hospital stay. It must be emphasized that this measure cannot be determined if data are just being transferred from one person to another.
3. Review and standardization of the process – there is also an opportunity to investigate the causes of discrepancies, if any, and improve the collection guidelines and process.