EpiCenter Helps To Pinpoint Cause of Outbreaks

November, 2011 — This fall, listeria food poisoning from tainted cantaloupes resulted in 29 deaths across the United States—an event that WebMD called the “deadliest listeria outbreak in U.S. history.”

By monitoring the symptoms of Emergency Room patients, HMS’ EpiCenter helps public health professionals to identify the trends that can pinpoint such an outbreak. EpiCenter was instrumental in helping The Ohio Department of Health to identify a norovirus outbreak in 2008, following an increase in numbers of patients complaining of vomiting symptoms.

Further research determined that many of those affected had eaten at the same Kent, Ohio restaurant—and each patient tested positive for the same strain of norovirus. EpiCenter’s ability to distill information based on specific health symptoms helped The Ohio Department of Health to detect the event and identify its source in a timely manner.

About Health Monitoring Systems, Inc.

HMS (http://www.hmsinc.com) is a privately held company specializing in healthcare data analysis. The company processes and analyzes health‐related data in real time via a Software‐as‐a‐Service (SaaS) approach. Using this approach, HMS enables clients to increase their understanding of regional health conditions, improve quality and efficiency, and ensure regulatory compliance.

The company’s EpiCenter™ system is a first of its kind community health surveillance system for public health. HMS collects and analyzes data from more than 500 healthcare facilities across the country.