How Does the Department of Health Collect Infection Rate Data?
In 1970 the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) started a secure data network for hospitals to record and compare their healthcare associated infection results. This was called the National Nosocomial Infections Surveillance System (NNIS, see http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dhqp/nnis.html for more information). In 2005 CDC expanded NNIS features and enrollment and relaunched it as the National Healthcare Safety Network (NHSN, see http://www.cdc.gov/nhsn/ for more information). Participation quickly expanded to over 2,000 hospitals. All participating hospitals agree to use the definitions and methods established by CDC. This system contains a number of safeguards to protect the privacy of patients, and does not reveal personal information to any unauthorized parties. The infection surveillance, control, and prevention programs in hospitals throughout the state of Washington use NHSN to record information about each infection. Hospitals give us permission to access these records a
