New RedBat Version 4.0 Surveillance System Aids Hospitals in Containing Possible Disease Outbreaks
ICPA announced today the release of RedBat Version 4.0 which contains several enhancements to its multi-purpose syndromic surveillance software for hospitals and public health agencies.
Austin, TX (PRWEB) June 11, 2005
ICPA announced today the release of RedBat Version 4.0 which contains several enhancements to its multi-purpose syndromic surveillance software for hospitals and public health agencies. Version 4.0 includes a robust database platform which can store and analyze millions of records. Also, the transfer of data is totally automatic– no manual steps are required.
The new RedBat enhancements allow hospitals and health agencies to automatically import emergency department symptom data, translate it into meaningful codes and syndromes and upload the data to the appropriate health agency, where it can be quickly analyzed for early evidence of a community, regional or state-wide outbreak.
With RedBat, hospitals and public health officers continually review existing data from emergency rooms and/or nurse call centers, and search for patterns of unusual health events. This type of surveillance may enable public health epidemiologists to detect terrorist incidents and naturally occurring disease outbreaks sooner than the traditional methods of passive surveillance, which include reports from doctors, laboratory staff or other healthcare workers.
“Early detection of disease outbreaks, whether caused by terrorists or occurring naturally, is very important because it gives public health officials time to implement prevention and control measures that will slow the spread of the disease or decrease its severity,” explains Kathryn Miller, RedBat Product Manager. “RedBat Version 4.0 analyzes data using sophisticated statistical techniques to flag unusual trends and clusters. It sends an immediate message to the appropriate person when a red alert occurs.”
RedBat Version 4.0 provides hospitals and health agencies with additional benefits including improved communication between public health, hospitals and private medical professionals, which improves the entire communityÂ’s health. Prevention and control measures include distributing vaccinations and prophylactic medications, educating healthcare workers and the public about the symptoms and treatments available, and, in extreme situations, quarantining people during their contagious period.
“It’s reassuring for citizens to know that the hospitals and health departments where they live are using state-of-the-art software for detecting outbreaks and can provide up-to-date information on the extent of the outbreak if necessary,” says Miller. “Not only is RedBat 4.0 extremely affordable and inexpensive to maintain, hospitals and health departments do not have to invest in additional personnel to implement the system.”
About ICPA
ICPA, Inc. is dedicated to the development of quality patient safety software that collects and analyzes data with the goal of reducing/preventing hospital-acquired infections, improving employee health and monitoring the health of the community. They are a far-sighted company, eager to assist and provide healthcare professionals with software tools that use the latest epidemiologic methods to improve patient care and employee health. For more information visit www. icpa. net.
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