In 2007, as the National Healthcare Safety Network (NHSN) was gearing up to collect information on healthcare associated infections (HAIs), they needed a mechanism to pull information captured in local infection control applications and EHRs without redundant data entry. The prevalent standards for data sharing could not easily model the reports and were not compatible with commercial applications. Under contract to the CDC’s DHQP, Lantana worked with the surveillance and infection control specialists and vendors to develop a proof of concept for reporting HAIs using the same framework later adopted for Meaningful Use, the Clinical Document Architecture (CDA).

Today, approximately 8,000 sites submit over 6 million HAI reports each year culled from EHRs and infection control systems in what has been called one of the most successful national implementations of electronic reporting. Lantana’s support for public reporting has expanded to states and users implementing the NHSN protocols via national standards, now available for selected reports on both CDA and FHIR platforms.

Key outcomes include:

• Reduction in the provider reporting burden through elimination of redundant data entry for 16 HAI report types
• Model for regulatory, commercial vendor, and stakeholder collaboration
• Similar reporting methods adopted on CDC programs for birth and fetal death records, early hearing detection, electronic case reporting
• Consistent metadata, data types, terminology for public health and continuity of care

Tools and methods used include:  

• Lantana’s Trifolia Workbench for template/profile creation, management, and publication
• Best practices and rule sets for data validation (XML Schema and Schematron)
• National Library of Medicine Value Set Authority Center (VSAC), integrated with Trifolia
• Lean/agile project management and stakeholder engagement to predictable ballot timeline