A REGIONAL PERINATAL DATABASE IN SOUTHERN SWEDEN - A BASIS FOR QUALITY ASSURANCE IN OBSTETRICS AND NEONATOLOGY

Background In order to ensure as few avoidable adverse outcomes of pre gnancy as possible, it is necessary to continuously evaluate the quali ty of both obstetric and neonatal care. The eleven southernmost hospit als in Sweden have joined together if a project of developing a region al database, with special emphasis on rapid output of information in o rder to identify changing trends. Methods. A regional computerized dat abase has been developed, collecting variables and quality indicators agreed upon by all participants. Specific protocols have been designed for obstetric care, neonatal care and autopsy findings. All participa ting units transfer information on paper forms or via local computeriz ed information systems. The regional database thus receives data on ab out 20,000 deliveries annually. Results. Data collection started on Se ptember 1, 1994. The first results are due in March 1996, and thereaft er on a regular basis every 3 months. Special methods for rapid analys is of raw data have been developed with the help of commercially avail able data analysis tools. Conclusions. It is possible to construct an information system with different computer platforms and different dat abase tools at each participating facility as long as the database sys tems are locally controllable. That a software is commercially availab le is no guarantee that data transfer to a central database is possibl e. Experience from participating sites also indicates that a specializ ed database is needed for registering obstetric data, as general compu terized record-keeping systems are unable to cope with an event concer ning more than one subject at a time.