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Emergency Departments Use EDIMS Analytics Tool to Send Daily H1N1 Reports to State Health Departments

Business Wire, Nov 17, 2009

22 EDs in New York and New Jersey Now Equipped with Heightened
Ability to Report on Swine Flu

LIVINGSTON, N.J. — EDIMS
LLC, a leading provider of interoperable emergency department (ED)
information management systems for hospitals, announced today that 22 of
its client EDs in New York and New Jersey are reporting daily on the
progress of the H1N1 flu pandemic to their state health departments.
Sixteen hospitals in central and northern New Jersey, as well as five
hospitals in southern New York state and one facility in New York City,
are generating the daily reports from EDIMS WEB Emergency Analysis &
Reporting System (WEBeMARS).

The WEBeMARS reports show the total number of patients presenting with
flulike symptoms in each county served by the hospitals using EDIMS. In
addition, the program breaks down these patients into those with
respiratory systems and those with gastrointestinal (GI) symptoms. The
report also shows how many patients have cold symptoms and how many have
fever/flu symptoms.

The EDs that use EDIMS have long reported data to state health
departments on a host of disease syndromes, including H1N1 influenza.
They use the WEBeMARS analytics program and data warehouse to track
disease syndromes. This approach allows them to pick up not only disease
outbreaks but also bioterrorism attacks, should infrared saunas any occur.

Until recently, the ED reports were made on a monthly basis. EDIMS
decision to shift to daily reporting for swine flu was motivated by the
classification of the disease as a pandemic and its observance of
significant increases in patients presenting with flulike symptoms. EDs
that use EDIMS employ the WEBeMARS reports to anticipate the patient
volume increases caused by pandemic spikes.

We are doing everything we can to support our hospital partners in
combating this dangerous disease and to ensure that everyone who
contracts it receives optimal care in the EDs that use our EHR,
commented Shane Hade, CEO of EDIMS