HIQA review of CIDR information management practices
Computerised Infectious Disease Reporting (CIDR) is the fourth national data collection to be reviewed by the Health Information and Quality Authority (HIQA) in relation to the information management standards for national health and social care data collections which were published in 2017.
The aim of the CIDR review by the health information directorate is to identify areas of good practice and areas of improvement in implementing the standards which are the gold-standard for national data collection information management in Ireland.
CIDR is the secure web-based electronic surveillance system for notifiable infectious diseases in Ireland. It is a shared national information system for the CIDR partners - the HSE Departments of Public Health, the Health Protection Surveillance Centre, the Food Safety Authority of Ireland, Safefood and the Department of Health. HSE Health Protection Surveillance Centre is the managing organisation for CIDR. The use of the information collected on CIDR is encouraged to protect the public’s health at local and national level for infectious disease management in the individual, outbreak management, surveillance of disease trends, health protection in infectious disease prevention and health promotion initiatives i.e. vaccination use.
CIDR is an operational information system that collects data on events of notifiable diseases in Ireland as they unfold. Public health departments link data relating to the same patient in real-time from clinical and/or laboratory notification information to create an event of infectious disease on CIDR. Events can be updated as the case of infectious disease is managed with clinical, laboratory, reference laboratory, exposure, and outcome data.
HPSC and the CIDR partners are committed to the quality of CIDR’s information management and welcome HIQA’s review as a positive programme. The standards focus on four themes of best-practice:
- Person-centred - CIDR ensures the privacy and security of the service user’s data by undertaking privacy impact assessments.
- Governance, Leadership and Management; CIDR’s Business Rules are the agreed principles by which CIDR is used as governed by the National Business Rules Committee and the CIDR National Steering Committee.
- Information Governance:
- Data security - HPSC’s Information Security Management System (including CIDR) is accredited to ISO270001
- Data protection - HPSC Information Systems (including CIDR) have been independently reviewed for GDPR- compliance
- Use of information:
- CIDR partners are committed to the quality of health information being used by the health service on a daily basis.
- The use of CIDR data is documented in a national monthly and annual report. Impact assessment of HPSC outputs.
- Routine data quality initiatives are prioritised and publications are generated from evaluations of the surveillance system:
a. Evaluation and comparison of the National Tuberculosis (TB) Surveillance System in Ireland before and after the introduction of the Computerised Infectious Disease Reporting (CIDR) system.(1)
b. A retrospective assessment of the completeness and timeliness of meningococcal disease notifications in the Republic of Ireland over a 16-year period, 1999-2015.(2)
c. Data quality review of syphilis reporting in Ireland.(3)
References:
- Chaintarli K, Jackson S, Cotter S, O’Donnell J. Evaluation and comparison of the National Tuberculosis (TB) Surveillance System in Ireland before and after the introduction of the Computerised Electronic Reporting System (CIDR). Epidemiology and Infection, Epub 6 July 2018
- O'Lorcain P, Bennett DE, Morgan SL, Cunney RJ, Cotter SM, Cafferkey MT, O'Flanagan DM. A retrospective assessment of the completeness and timeliness of meningococcal disease notifications in the Republic of Ireland over a 16-year period, 1999-2015.Public Health. March 2018;156:44-51 [Epub ahead of print]
- Petty-Sahon N, Igoe D. (2019) An evaluation of case based syphilis surveillance in Ireland (unpublished)
Further information:
Information for the public on data handling in the HSE Health Protection Surveillance Centre (HPSC): http://www.hpsc.ie/notifiablediseases/howwehandleyourdata/
CIDR Frequently Asked Questions: http://www.hpsc.ie/cidr/frequentlyaskedquestions/
CIDR presentations: http://www.hpsc.ie/cidr/presentations/
CIDR Committees: http://www.hpsc.ie/cidr/committees/