Infections in the surgical and trauma intensive care unit (STICU) are responsible for significant patient morbidity and mortality. Research into these infectious complications often uses administrative databases or clinical information systems designed for documenting and billing daily patient care. Neither of these sources is intended for research, and many investigators have questioned their accuracy. The Surgical Intensive Care–Infection Registry (SIC-IR) was developed as a research data repository to use to monitor STICU infections. SIC-IR is a relational database application designed to collect quality data and to integrate with daily patient care. SIC-IR prospectively collects and archives more than 100 clinical variables daily on each STICU patient to ensure completeness and correctness of the registry. Furthermore, SIC-IR aids in clinical activities by providing patient summaries and medical record documentation. SIC-IR provides accurate data for STICU infection research and enables the users to easily undertake quality-of-care improvement initiatives. (Am J Med Qual 2009;24:29-34)
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