Page 156 - Timeliness of Infectious Disease Notification & Response Systems - Corien Swaan

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Analysis
All interviews and focus groups were audiotaped and transcribed verbatim. A summary was sent to the participants for approval. We performed a thematic content analysis and analyzed the transcripts by means of coding. An initial co- ding guide was established by the facilitator (A.V.O.) on basis of the main topics of the interviews and focus groups and refined as subthemes emerged during the discussions. To enhance reliability and reduce researcher bias, two other researchers (L.G.C.S. and A.J.) coded the transcripts independently. Afterward, the coding process was compared and differences were discussed until consen- sus was reached and a final coding guide was established. ATLAS.ti, version 7.5.6 was used as qualitative data analysis tool and was used to structure the coding process and analyze the content of the transcripts.
Timeliness of referral of patients with suspected EVD to academic hos- pitals
According to our national viral hemorrhagic fever guidelines (3), physicians and PHSs consult the CID for triage of patients with potential EVD and to discuss re- ferral of those patients to an academic hospital. The CID records of all referred patients during the Ebola epidemic, March 2014 until April 2016, were collected, including date of onset of illness, first day of contact with a physician, date and time of CID consultation, date and time of decision of referral, and time of arrival at the academic hospital. Referring physicians were contacted for missing information.
Development recommendations
The results were presented and discussed at a final plenary meeting with all study participants in order to gain general consensus and develop recommen- dations. The names and private information of the study participants were not used in the coding procedures or in the results. Reference was solely based on the organization represented by the study participants.
Results
In the study, in total 48 individuals from 42 organizations participated: regional public health consultants (n=6), PHSs (n= 8), peripheral (n=6) and academic hos- pitals (n= 6), ambulance services (n= 8), 7 GP’s, and 7 national associations (n=7). In the final plenary meeting, 27 (56%) persons participated representing all sta- keholder groups. The main outcomes of the study are summarized in Table 1.