EHRs underused for hospital infection reporting

In a survey conducted by informatics researchers at the Regenstrief Institute and the affiliated Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis, just one in 10 "infection preventionists," or IPs, said the organization they work for was "formally engaged" in health information exchange. In fact, 49% said they were unaware of whether their organization even participated in HIE. "Unfortunately, many notifiable diseases are reported less than half the time, and the time lag between diagnosis and submission for those reported to public health can be as high as three weeks," said the study, which appears in the American Journal of Infection Control.