News
GPs asked to join swine flu tracking system
5 May 2009
GPs in the UK are being urged to help improve monitoring of the H1N1
swine flu pandemic by linking their IT systems to a national tracking
database.
QSurveillance, the UK surveillance system set up to alert and to
manage a flu pandemic, has appealed to all GPs using the EMIS LV system
to activate a module that will feed anonymous patient data through to
the database.
Currently, 3,500 EMIS practices — covering a population of 23 million
patients — contribute automatically-generated, daily data to a secure
server.
This enables detailed daily analyses of the number of patients
reporting flu-like symptoms, and the nature of those symptoms, to be
provided to the Health Protection Agency and the Department of Health.
The database, which is operated in partnership with the University of
Nottingham, is the largest, most up-to-date real-time system worldwide.
However, there are still many more practices that could play a vital
role in monitoring the spread of the disease if they opt in to the
programme. Extending the database would significantly improve monitoring
at a local level.
Dr David Stables, Medical Director of EMIS and a Director of
QSurveillance, said: “QSurveillance has played an important role in
previous public health crises, but with GPs’ help we can extend the
database even further at this critical time.
“The key benefit will be to improve the quality of monitoring at a
local level — helping local services prepare more effectively for a
pandemic, if it comes.
“The process is quick and simple: it requires activating a module
within the EMIS system, which can be done in minutes. Data is then
collected automatically, with no need for the practice to do anything
further.
“Practices that wish to opt out at a future date can deactivate the
module at any time.”
Julia Hippisley-Cox, Professor of Epidemiology at the University of
Nottingham and Director of Q-Surveillance added: “As health
organisations around the world seek to understand and combat this virus,
access to real-time data is essential. Qsurveillance will provide the UK
with a daily insight into developments. It is vitally important that as
many GP practices as possible link up to the database, to ensure that a
comprehensive picture emerges. ”
For instructions on how to activate the QSurveillance module within
the EMIS LV system, visit:
www.qresearch.org/public/QSurveillance.aspx
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