• Annette L Adams, Karen L Southwick, Jonathan Jui, Mark O Loveless, and Melvin A Kohn.
• Department of Emergency Medicine, Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, Oregon, USA.
• Sex Transm Dis. 2004 Jun 1; 31 (6): 327-30.

Background And ObjectivesPelvic inflammatory disease (PID) is a clinically diagnosed condition that is preventable and underreported. We developed an electronic emergency department (ED) PID reporting system by using an automatic and secure system to send computerized clinician PID diagnoses to the state health department.GoalThe goal of this study was to assess if electronic transmission of ED PID data could enhance the completeness and timeliness of PID surveillance.Study DesignWe conducted a retrospective chart review.MethodsTo validate electronic ED diagnoses, we reviewed charts of 157 women with 7 clinicians' diagnoses compatible with PID. We determined which women met the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) PID surveillance case definition and determined the positive predictive values of electronic ED diagnoses of PID. We compared completeness of electronic PID reporting with state sexually transmitted disease surveillance.ResultsThree diagnoses were appropriate for electronic PID surveillance. Information on women with these diagnoses is sent daily to the health department with no extra effort needed from ED clinicians. Less than 10% of women who met the CDC PID case definition were reported within 6 months through conventional methods.ConclusionsElectronic ED surveillance will improve completeness and timeliness of PID reporting.

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