### Form A/B tab

When you select Patient/Antimicrobial use/HAI data in the main menu, the Patients | Risk factors form opens at the Form A/B tab.

1. Click the Add item icon to activate the form. Click (A) to increment the counter for the next patient number, or (B), enter the number manually.

The patient counter defines a unique record within the hospital (not within the ward). The patient counter is an anonymous patient identifier (that is, it is not the true patient number), and it can contain only numbers; other characters are not allowed.

2. Optionally, you can also enter a patient identifier in the Internal patient code field.

This field is for local (hospital) use only. By default, data in this field is not exported as it may contain personal identifiers. However, HelicsWin.Net’s export function allows you to choose to export it (see Exporting data from the database). To preserve patient confidentiality in compliance with Data Protection principles, the internal patient code data should not be included in the export file sent to the regional, national or EU level.

3. Select the check box (C) to confirm the proposed date or select a date in the calendar pop-up.

The date of hospital admission defaults to the ward survey date once the ward is selected. If this is not the correct date, select the actual admission date from the calendar.

4. Select the ward code (ID) from the Ward list (D), and then click the transfer button (E) to update the Ward code and Survey date fields (F).

Only wards for which the survey date and ward specialty were previously entered appear in the Ward list.

5. Optionally, to save time when entering subsequent patients, click on Patient settings (G).

The Patients settings box opens.

Select Use last selected ward survey, and click Save patient settings to ensure that the chosen ward (D) is automatically entered in the Ward code and Survey date fields both when the transfer button (E) is clicked, and when subsequent patient records are added.

6. Complete the remaining fields as necessary.

Note that bold field labels denote mandatory fields.

7. If you are using the Standard protocol, complete the additional risk factors that are displayed when the ward is selected (when the transfer button (E) is clicked).

8. Click the Save icon or press Ctrl+S.

Descriptions of the variables in the Form A/B tab are given in Table 20. Mandatory fields are indicated by a red asterisk *. Required fields by a black asterisk *.

Table 20: Patients risk factors Form A/B tab

Variable | Description
Hospital code | Inserted automatically based on the hospital selected during Hospital definition.
Ward code | From ward PPS data.
Survey date | From ward PPS data. Date on which data were collected in this ward. Data from a single ward should be collected on one day (dd/mm/yyyy).
Ward specialty | From ward PPS data.
Patient counter * | A system allocated sequential patient number for anonymised identification. Click to apply a number to the patient.
Internal patient code | For hospital internal use only. Optional. Must be removed from any data submitted to ECDC/TESSy.
Age in years | Patient’s age in years. Enter respectively 0 or 1 if the patient is less than two years old.
Age in months | Patient’s age in months. Mandatory if Age in years is less than 2 (note that you must also enter the baby’s Age in years).
Sex | Select from the listed options.
Date of hospital admission | Date patient was admitted to the hospital for the current hospitalisation (dd/mm/yyyy).
Consultant/ patient speciality * | Specialty of physician in charge of the patient or specialty of main disease of the patient. If the consultant specialty differs from the patient specialty, give priority to the patient specialty. For paediatric patients on a PED ward, use the subspecialty (MEDGEN, MEDSUR etc.) (see ward specialty). LTC is in principle a ward specialty and should only exceptionally be used as a patient/consultant specialty.
Patient receives antimicrobial(s) * | Patient receives at least one systemic antimicrobial agent on the date of the survey (given or planned treatment, including intermittent treatments, e.g. alternate day; or medical prophylaxis); for surgical antimicrobial prophylaxis, check whether any surgical prophylaxis was given in the 24 hours prior to 8 a.m. on the day of the survey; yes/no/unknown. If yes, collect antimicrobial use data.
Patient has at least one HAI * | Patient has an active healthcare-associated infection on survey date; yes/no/unknown. If yes, collect HAI data.
If neonate, birth weight | Birth weight in grams for neonates (patients who are ≤ 30 days of age); the birthweight is the weight of the infant at the time of birth and should not be changed as the infant gains or loses weight.
Surgery since admission | Patient has undergone surgery during current hospitalisation. Surgery is defined as a procedure where an incision is made (not just a needle puncture), with breach of mucosa and/or skin – not necessarily in the operating theatre. Answer categories: No surgery; yes, minimally invasive/non-NHSN surgery (examples see annex); yes, NHSN surgery – optionally specify NHSN surgery code (ICD9-CM code of the intervention is listed for the surveillance of surgical site infections in the NHSN system, see codebook); unknown.
McCabe score | Classification of the severity of underlying medical conditions. Disregard the influence of acute infections, e.g. if the patient has an active HAI, estimate the score the patient had before the infection. Some examples of diseases and their different McCabe score categories are shown in Table 6. These examples, in particular those of the second (ultimately fatal) category, are not meant to be exhaustive but rather to serve as a guidance tool for the current protocol. Answer categories: Non-fatal disease (expected survival at least five years); ultimately fatal disease (between one and five years); rapidly fatal disease (expected death within one year); unknown.
Central vascular catheter | Patient has central vascular catheter in place on survey date; yes/no/unknown. A central vascular catheter is defined by the CDC as an intravascular catheter that terminates at or close to the heart or in one of the great vessels which is used for infusion, withdrawal of blood, or hemodynamic monitoring. The following are considered great vessels for the purpose of reporting central-line BSI and counting central-line days in the NHSN system: Aorta, pulmonary artery, superior vena cava, inferior vena cava, brachiocephalic veins, internal jugular veins, subclavian veins, external iliac veins, common iliac veins, common femoral veins, and in neonates, the umbilical artery/vein.
Peripheral line | Patient has peripheral vascular catheter or arterial catheter in place; yes/no/unknown.
Indwelling urinary catheter | Patient has indwelling urinary catheter in place at the date of the survey; yes/no/unknown.
Intubation | Patient is under intubation with or without mechanical ventilation (endotracheal tube or tracheostomy) on survey date; yes/no/unknown.

More:

Patient list, AM list and HAI list tabs

HelicsWin.Net v2.2 Online User Guide v20160330
© European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control, 2016
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