From Manual to Modern: Transforming Novel Influenza A Detection at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital
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Inovalon
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If you’re in infection prevention, you know the drill: flu season hits, novel influenza A shows up on your radar, and suddenly you’re buried in lab results, symptoms, and public health reporting requirements that feel like they’re written in another language.
Sound familiar? Across hospitals, infection preventionists are stuck trying to detect and report novel influenza A cases using manual workflows that simply weren’t built for the speed and complexity of today’s environment.
But what if you didn’t have to work harder to keep up? What if a smarter Standard Operating Procedure (SOP), backed by near real-time automation could help your team catch novel influenza A cases faster, trigger immediate alerts, and stay ahead of public health requirements without extra manual effort?
That’s exactly what happened at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital, thanks to the expertise of Virginia Becker, M.P.H., CIC, FAPIC, Senior Clinical Solutions Specialist at Inovalon. Her work with the hospital’s infection prevention and IT teams led to the creation of a novel influenza A SOP that transformed how they detect and report high-risk flu cases.
Their story is now featured in Infection Control Today.
The problem: Too many cases, not enough time
Before the SOP, infection preventionists were manually reviewing every case: cross-checking PCR tests results, confirming symptoms, and formatting reports for the state. It was slow, frustrating, and left the team vulnerable to delays and compliance gaps. They needed a faster way to flag likely novel influenza A cases and a smarter workflow that didn’t pile more onto their plates.
The breakthrough: Near real-time alerts built into their workflow
With Becker’s help, the hospital implemented a rules-based alert using Inovalon’s VigiLanz Infection Prevention Pro™ that surfaced likely novel influenza A cases based on two key triggers:
- A positive PCR test for influenza A
- Documented symptoms aligned with novel influenza A
When both were present, the surveillance solution alerted the infection prevention team in near real-time and guided them through a specialized workflow that included:
- Pre-built documentation prompts to capture all required public health info
- Triage tools to verify the case and route it for reporting
- An embedded SOP that made the process repeatable and scalable across the team
No digging through patient charts and no manual checks. Just the right data delivered timely with zero guesswork.
What changed: Faster flu response and more meaningful results
With the new SOP in place, Cincinnati Children’s Hospital can now identify and report novel influenza A cases in near real-time – eliminating delays, reducing manual work, and ensuring nothing slips through the cracks.
They’re not just checking the box on public health requirements; they’re getting ahead of them.
Put your data to work this flu season
Novel influenza A isn’t going away, and the next time it hits, your team needs more than good instincts – they need automated support that helps them act fast and report with confidence.
That’s exactly what VigiLanz Infection Prevention Pro delivers:
- Real-time surveillance that adapts to your hospital’s data and needs
- Configurable alerts and workflows for emerging threats like novel influenza A
- Built-in expertise from clinical specialists like Virginia Becker to guide implementation and optimization
Don’t wait until the next flu season to build smarter systems.
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