Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-xbtfd Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-16T18:25:19.716Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Data for Decision Making: Strategic Information Tools for Hospital Management During a Pandemic

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  08 April 2013

Daniel R. Farias ,
Lucrecia Raffo ,
Silvia Bacigalupo ,
Maria Cremaschi ,
Liliana Vence ,
Susana Ramos ,
Ana Salguero ,
Martin Claudio ,
Elissa Meites  and
Alejandro Cubito†
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Objectives: During the 2009 influenza A (H1N1) pandemic, Argentina's Hospital Nacional Profesor Alejandro Posadas, a referral center in the capital province of Buenos Aires, treated a large urban patient population. Beginning in April, after severe influenza had been reported in North America but before any suspected cases of H1N1 had been reported in Argentina, the authors formed a pandemic planning committee to direct our hospital's response. An important strategy of the management team was to create a single daily monitoring tool that could integrate multiple information sources. We describe our pandemic planning strategy so that it may serve as a template for other hospitals.

Methods: We describe our integrated data management system and the indicators it measured. We also describe the iterative process used to develop these tools and the current versions we use in surveillance for possible new waves of pandemic influenza.

Results: We present 3 examples of strategic decision making applied to data from our integrated information system. Daily pandemic surveillance data motivated the planning committee to reallocate hospital resources to care for patients during the peak pandemic period.

Conclusions: This report illustrates the importance of pandemic planning and advanced integrated information tools for management of a health care facility during a pandemic.

(Disaster Med Public Health Preparedness. 2010;4:207-212)

Keywords

pandemicinfluenzadata managementstrategic decision makinghealth care facility
Type
Original Article
Information
Disaster Medicine and Public Health Preparedness , Volume 4 , Issue 3 , October 2010 , pp. 207 - 212
Copyright
Copyright © Society for Disaster Medicine and Public Health, Inc. 2010

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

1.Chan, M.World now at the start of 2009 influenza pandemic: statement to the press by WHO Director-General. http://www.who.int/mediacentre/news/statements/2009/h1n1_pandemic_phase6_20090611. Published June 11, 2009. Accessed June 4, 2010.Google Scholar
2.World Health Organization. Current WHO phase of pandemic alert for avian influenza H5N1. http://www.who.int/csr/disease/avian_influenza/phase/en/index.html. Published June 11, 2009. Accessed June 4, 2010.Google Scholar
3.New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene. Pandemic influenza preparedness and response plan. http://www.nyc.gov/html/doh/downloads/pdf/cd/cd-panflu-plan.pdf. Published July 2006. Accessed June 4, 2010.Google Scholar
4.World Health Organization. Considerations for assessing the severity of an influenza pandemic. WHO Weekly Epidemiological Record. 2009;84:197–212.Google Scholar
5.Government of Chile. National Preparedness Plan for an Influenza Pandemic [in Spanish]. http://www.pandemia.cl/templates/pandemia/documentos/chile_plan_pandemia_influenza_2007.pdf. Published 2007. Accessed June 4, 2010.Google Scholar
6.Pan American Health Organization. General recommendations for managing healthcare institutions in countries reporting cases of influenza A (H1N1) [in Spanish]. http://new.paho.org/col/index.php?option=com_docman&task=doc_download&gid=155&Itemid=. Published May 2009. Accessed June 4, 2010.Google Scholar
7.Pan American Health Organization. Prevention and control of infections in healthcare facilities for confirmed and suspected cases of influenza A (H1N1): provisional recommendations [in Spanish]. http://new.paho.org/col/index.php?option=com_docman&task=doc_download&gid=157&Itemid=. Published April 2009. Accessed June 4, 2010.Google Scholar
8.National Ministry of Health of Argentina. Guide to quality indicators for healthcare facilities: Resolution 54/2003 [in Spanish]. http://www1.hcdn.gov.ar/dependencias/dip/documentos/RL109.05.00.01.pdf. Published June 23, 2003. Accessed June 4, 2010.Google Scholar
9.AKS-Labs. Healthcare Facilities Balanced Scorecard Metrics Template. http://www.strategy2act.com/solutions/health_care_facilities_excel.htm. Published April 2007. Accessed June 4, 2010.Google Scholar
10.Buckle, CEE, Barrabino, LO.Scorecard: measurement for management control in health. http://www.rtsg.unp.edu.ar/index.php/en/integrantes/docentes/16-charly. Published September 5, 2003. Accessed June 4, 2010.Google Scholar
11.Villalbí, JR, Villalbí, J, Guix, J, et alThe Balanced Scorecard as a management tool in a public health organization Gac Sanit. 2007;21 (1):60–65.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
12.Kaplan, RS, Norton, DP.The Balanced Scorecard. [in Spanish] Barcelona: Ediciones Gestión; 1997.Google Scholar
13.National Hospital Alejandro Posadas. Strategic plan for pandemic response [in Spanish]. http://gripea.hospitalposadas.gov.ar/plan.htm. Accessed October 15, 2009.Google Scholar
14.National Ministry of Health of Argentina. Handbook of rules and procedures for monitoring and control of notifiable diseases [in Spanish]. http://www.msal.gov.ar/htm/site/pdf/manual-normas-obligatorias.pdf. Published 2007. Accessed June 4, 2010.Google Scholar
15.Raffo, L.Influenza A. (H1N1) epidemic in Argentina: experience in a national general hospital (Hospital Nacional Alejandro Posadas) [in Spanish]. Medicina (B Aires). 2009;69:393–423.Google Scholar
16.Estenssoro, E, Ríos, FG, Apezteguía, C, et alRegistry of the Argentinian Society of Intensive Care SATI. Pandemic 2009 influenza A in Argentina: a study of 337 patients on mechanical ventilation. Am J Respir Crit Care Med. 2010;182 (1):41–48.Google Scholar
17.Libster, R, Bugna, J, Coviello, S, et alPediatric hospitalizations associated with 2009 pandemic influenza A (H1N1) in Argentina. N Engl J Med. 2010;362 (1):45–55.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
18.Aguilar, L, Rios, F, Raffo, L, et alICU patient care during the 2009 influenza A (H1N1) pandemic in a hospital in Argentina: organizational issues. Am J Respir Crit Care Med. 2010;181:A6122.Google Scholar
19.Rios, F, Valentini, R, Estenssoro, E, et alMechanically ventilated patients with pneumonia during the 2009 influenza A H1N1 pandemic in Argentina. Am J Respir Crit Care Med. 2010;181:A6110.Google Scholar
20.Aguilar, L, Rios, F, Pezzola, D, et alSevere pneumonia during the 2009 influenza A (H1N1) pandemic: 48 adult patients admitted to an ICU in Argentina. Am J Respir Crit Care Med. 2010;181:A6109.Google Scholar