“The Hospital 9 de Julho, in São Paulo, carries out more than 1,500 admissions a month across its 310 beds. Its outpatient clinic sees 3,600 patients a month. In general, these are people with low immunity and vulnerable to the action of bacteria and other micro-organisms. Preventing the contamination of these patients is one of its biggest challenges, as is the case in healthcare institutions worldwide. In Brazil, hospitals are required to form a Hospital Infection Control Committee (CCIH). But there are still only a few institutions with automated management systems capable of generating real-time information, and enabling doctors and nurses to respond immediately to infection risks, like the one implemented at 9 de Julho in 2011.

Regina Tranchesi, the institution's technical director, says that software - Hepic, from the Portuguese developer First - links the CCIH and the hospital's ward and pharmacy areas to the clinical analysis laboratory. The hospital informs the laboratory of the group of bacteria it wants to control. When a bacterium is detected, an alert is sent immediately, containing the procedures that must be adopted by the ward. The connection with the pharmacy makes it possible to see which medicines are being used and whether the doses are appropriate. "Today the information reaches quickly wherever the patient is, allowing immediate intervention," she says.

In the old system used at 9 de Julho, the entire flow and control of information was done manually, through printed reports. The response to a bacterial attack could take hours.

There are no official statistics on infection in healthcare facilities in the country. Some estimates indicate that between 14% and 19% of patients are affected. In a universe of approximately 7,000 hospitals in the country, fewer than 5% have support technologies.”