Using Data to Protect Public Health

EVANSTON and CHICAGO, IL — November 16, 2005 — It starts with one patient's visit to a hospital emergency department, reporting symptoms of nausea, headache and vomiting. Within hours, more patients with similar indications arrive at other hospitals in the city, state or beyond. Could it be anthrax? SARS? Smallpox? E.coli?

Until recently, health officials didn't have the ability to detect a health crisis for days or even weeks. But now, the state of North Carolina — intent on protecting its 8.5 million citizens from potential biological attacks, infection or disease outbreaks — is using the North Carolina Hospital Emergency Surveillance System, or NCHESS. It is the nation's first statewide system to electronically collect, report, monitor and investigate pre-diagnosis clinical patient data on a 24x7 basis.

"More than 12,000 patients a day visit state emergency departments," remarked Bill Pully, president of the North Carolina Hospital Association. "NCHESS will save lives because now we can very quickly identify and react to potential bioterrorism or disease outbreaks."

NCHESS was created in partnership with the North Carolina Hospital Association (NCHA) and North Carolina Division of Public Health (NCDPH). Two Chicago-area companies, Solucient, LLC and Knightsbridge Solutions, collaborated to build the technological foundation of NCHESS, which acts as the system's digital engine, powering the collection and reporting of select emergency department data in near real-time, every 12 hours, for the first time.

A third technology partner, MercuryMD, developed the technology to electronically monitor available data and deliver real-time medical record access, which, among other things, allows physicians to securely pull up and review medical information.

"To improve North Carolina's preparedness for acts of bioterrorism or other health epidemics, the state needed a central clearinghouse that made it easy for hospitals to share data electronically with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the state's Division of Public Health," said Matthew Bates, senior vice president of products and technology at Solucient®. "Within six months, NCHESS was built using existing infrastructure to speed delivery of the solution, ensure hospital ease of use, and minimize expense."

Given their focus on helping people in life-or-death situations, emergency departments historically have lacked the time, people and technology to report even basic patient data to the state. Now, all licensed 24-hour emergency departments within North Carolina — 112 hospitals — are required by state law to use the system, which meets current privacy regulations and international data standards. The system requires no additional staff and minimal training.

"We took every measure to educate state hospitals about NCHESS and to guide their usage," said Paul Vosters, Health and Life Sciences practice leader for Knightsbridge. "Given its optimal scalability, flexibility and operability, this system is a model for other states to consider."

About Solucient
Solucient® is an information products company serving the healthcare industry. It is the market leader in providing tools and vital insights that healthcare managers use to improve the performance of their organizations.

By integrating, standardizing and enhancing healthcare information, Solucient provides comparative measurements of cost, quality and market performance. Solucient's expertise and proven solutions enable providers, payers and pharmaceutical companies to drive business growth, manage costs and deliver high quality care. For more information, visit www.solucient.com.

About Knightsbridge Solutions LLC
Fortune 500 companies and other large data-centric organizations turn to Knightsbridge for solutions to their most difficult data problems-problems rooted in massive data volumes or complex information challenges. Knightsbridge delivers actionable and measurable business results that inform decision-making, optimize IT efficiency, and improve business performance. Focusing exclusively on the information management disciplines of data warehousing, data integration, information quality, and business intelligence, Knightsbridge delivers practical solutions that reduce time, reduce cost, and reduce risk. Visit Knightsbridge online at www.knightsbridge.com.