Patent ID: 8060315

Claim:
A computer implemented method implemented on a computer coupled to a hospital network for electronically analyzing patient hospitalization data to determine a Nosocomial Infection Marker (NIM), the method comprising: receiving, at a computer, from a database, hospitalization data associated with at least one patient; calculating at the computer, from the hospitalization data, a number of specimens with non-duplicate hospital isolates (SNDHI) markers by: segregating a first isolate of a microorganism from a patient obtained during a determined first period of time; eliminating additional isolates of the same microorganism from the patient obtained within the determined first period of time when the additional isolates were not tested against antimicrobial drugs; eliminating each additional isolate of the same microorganism from the patient obtained within the determined first period of time when the additional isolate was tested against antimicrobial drugs and an interpreted antimicrobial susceptibility result of the test differs from the first isolate on fewer than a predetermined number of drugs; assigning a SNDHI marker to each remaining isolate; and giving a collected SNDHI date to the SNDHI marker; calculating at the computer, from the hospitalization data, an antibiotic utilization criteria (AUC) marker by: identifying whether antimicrobials were dispensed during the course of the patient hospitalization; assigning the AUC marker; and giving an AUC marker date to the assigned AUC marker; determining the nosocomial infection marker (NIM) for the patient hospitalization, based upon the calculated SNDHI and AUC markers; and presenting the NIM to a user; wherein the NIM is equal to the AUC if SNDHI if is equal to zero, otherwise the NIM is equal to the SNDHI.