State health departments and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have begun to tap into a near real-time compilation of U.S. influenza case data compiled by Cerner, a Kansas City, Mo.–based electronic medical records company.
Cerner now has the database, called the Flu Pandemic Initiative, operating with input from more than 200 client hospitals and medical practices. By the end of last month, Cerner expected to have more than 1,000 of their client facilities participating, said Kelli Christman, a Cerner spokeswoman.
Cerner says that its clients provide more than 30% of U.S. health care, and the company expects full participation in the new network by virtually all of its clients by the end of this year, she added. Although a large segment of the U.S. population won't be included in the network, the Cerner's 30% segment will be statistically representative of the entire country, Ms. Christman said.
Cerner will aggregate information from the records of patients diagnosed with flu and make the data available nearly immediately, an advance from the CDC's weekly data updates. The data are also available to all participating hospitals and practices, an inducement for nonmembers to join the network.
“Being a part of a nationwide network that can allow us to see where flu hotspots are in near real time will be very valuable in helping us anticipate health care needs,” Dr. P. Terrence O'Rourke, chief clinical officer for Trinity Health, a health system with 45 hospitals located primarily in the Midwest, said in a written statement released by Cerner.