Impact of Electronic Alerts on Isolation Precautions for Patients With Multidrug-Resistant Bacteria.

This article presents a case study regarding the effect of electronic alerts on isolation precautions for patients with multidrug-resistant bacteria. In a 750-bed, acute care university hospital with a patient information system covering the entire hospital, a database that included all patients with multidrug-resistant bacteria was developed and was merged daily with the admission-discharge-transfer application. Findings shows that a computer alert system can lead to a lasting and effective improvement in the implementation of isolation precautions for patients with multidrug-resistant bacteria in health care institutions.