Development and Evaluation of a Fully Automated Surveillance System for Influenza-Associated Hospitalization at a Multihospital Health System in Northeast Ohio.

Background: Performing high-quality surveillance for influenza-associated hospitalization (IAH) is challenging, time-consuming, and essential.

Objectives: Our objectives were to develop a fully automated surveillance system for laboratory-confirmed IAH at our multihospital health system, to evaluate the performance of the automated system during the 2018 to 2019 influenza season at eight hospitals by comparing its sensitivity and positive predictive value to that of manual surveillance, and to estimate the time and cost savings associated with reliance on the automated surveillance system.

Methods: Infection preventionists (IPs) perform manual surveillance for IAH by reviewing laboratory records and making a determination about each result.