Methodology of the Norwegian Surveillance System for Healthcare-Associated Infections: The value of a mandatory system, automated data collection, and active postdischarge surveillance

The effect of antibiotic prophylaxis guidelines on surgical‐site infections associated with cesarean delivery

“…All SSIs are diagnosed by physicians and most cases are validated against source data according to CDC criteria by hospital infection‐control personnel before the data are transferred to NOIS. Because most SSIs are diagnosed after discharge [9], a complete active follow‐up (as documented in the present study) is important for reliable estimates for SSIs within 30 days of surgery.…”

“…Over the present study period, more than 95% of all Norwegian hospitals performing CD reported to NOIS [9]. All SSIs are diagnosed by physicians and most cases are validated against source data according to CDC criteria by hospital infection-control personnel before the data are transferred to NOIS.…”

“…Since 2005, all Norwegian hospitals have been required to report annually to the Norwegian Surveillance System for Healthcare-Associated Infections (NOIS) [9] on the rates of surgical-site infections (SSIs) arising from CD and four other non-gynecologic surgical procedures between September 1 and November 30. NOIS is a mandatory audit based on a European adaptation of guidelines that were originally developed by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) [10,11].…”

The quality of denominator data in surgical site infection surveillance versus administrative data in Norway 2005–2010

“…It is coordinated by the Norwegian Institute of Public Health (NIPH) in collaboration with the hospitals. The first NOIS-module encompasses SSIs following several common surgical procedures, and is described in-depth in our previous publication [ 3 ]. Data are collected during an annual 3-month surveillance period (September-November).…”

“…High quality of the systems is a prerequisite for their usefulness. National surveillance of SSIs in Norway was established with the Norwegian Surveillance System for Antibiotic Consumption and Healthcare-Associated Infections (NOIS) Act [ 2 ] in 2005, and we have earlier reported in detail on the rationale and functioning of this system [ 3 , 4 ]. NOIS is based on the Hospitals in Europe Link for Infection Control through Surveillance [ 5 ] which was transferred to the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) [ 6 ], and the definitions from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Healthcare Safety Network [ 7 ].…”