National Surveillance of Infections in Healthcare settings - NSIH

Last updated on 9-1-2024 by Louise Vaes

On this page, you can find more information about the registration of healthcare data as part of the NSIH surveillance.

Instructions for registering your healthcare data

The registration instructions differ according to the surveillance. Click on the relevant surveillance below to get the right instructions.

National surveillance of bloodstream infections in Belgian hospitals (BSI)

  • Annual participation in the surveillance is mandatory for all acute hospitals for a minimum of 1 quarter. They can start their participation on the first day of any quarter (1 January, 1 April, 1 July or 1 October).
  • The data collection, including the collection of denominator data, is carried out via the Healthdata platform. Healthdata’s data-collection page contains more specifications on the NSIH-SEP and NSIH Denominators registration.
  • You can find more information, including the study protocols, on the project page.

National surveillance of antimicrobial resistance (MRSA, MRGN, VRE)

  • Annual participation in MRSA (Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus) and MRGN (Multiresistant Gram-negative bacteria) surveillance is mandatoryfor all acute hospitals for a minimum of 6 months.
  • Participation in the VRE (Vancomycin-resistant enterococci) surveillance is optional for all acute hospitals. However, there is an obligation to participate in at least one of the following 4 surveillances: CDIF, SSI, ICU and VRE. when taking part in the VRE surveillance, annual data should be collected.
  • The data is collected via a single surveillance form (Microsoft Excel file) available on the AMR surveillance project page
  • You can find more information, including the study protocols, on the project page.

National surveillance of Clostridioides difficile infections in Belgian hospitals (NSIH-CDIF)

  • Participation in the surveillance is optional for all acute hospitals. However, there is an obligation to participate in at least 1 of the following 4 surveillances: CDIF, SSI, ICU and VRE.
  • Participation involves: registering all CDI cases in hospitalized patients for at least 6 months (January to June and/or July to December); sending strains to the National Reference Laboratory; and entering denominator data.
  • The data is collected via the Healthdata platformHealthdata’s data-collection page contains more specifications on NSIH-CDIF registration.
  • You can find more information, including the study protocols, on the project page.

National surveillance of postoperative wound infections (NSIH-SSI)

  • Annual participation in the surveillance is optional for all acute hospitals. They can start their participation by logging at least one three-monthly participation period (starting on the day of their choice).
  • The data is collected via the NSIHwin software or via self-created data files.
  • You can find more information, including the study protocols, on the project page.

Healthcare-associated infections in intensive care (NSIH-ICU)

  • Annual participation in the surveillance is optional for all acute hospitals. They can start their participation by logging at least one three-monthly participation period (starting on the day of their choice).
  • The data is collected via the NSIHwin software or via self-created data files.
  • You can find more information, including the study protocols, on the project page.

European antimicrobial-resistance surveillance: Belgium (EARS-BE)

  • Annual participation in the surveillance is optional for all clinical laboratories (whether associated with an acute hospital or not). 
  • The data collection concerns the full annual data for invasive samples (blood and cerebrospinal fluid cultures). Optionally, annual data can also be gathered from urine samples .
  • The data is collected via self-created data files following data extraction from the laboratory database.
  • You can find more information, including the study protocols, on the project page.

Belgian hospital surveillance of antimicrobial consumption (BeH-SAC)

  • Participation in the national surveillance of antimicrobial consumption does not require any action from your hospital. 
  • National reports (publicly available) and individual feedback reports from hospitals (log in with eID) are available on the Healthstat platform
  • The data collected by RIZIV (the Belgian National Institute for Health and Disability Insurance) on reimbursement are used for the BeH-SAC and ESAC-net projects as well as for the BELMAP report
  • You can find more information, including the study protocols, on the project page.

National hand hygiene campaign (HHC)

  • Biennial participation in the national hand hygiene campaign is optional for all hospitals (chronic, acute, psychiatric). However, hospitals can conduct checks on the observance of hand hygiene at any time, outside of the campaign.
  • The data is collected via the Healthdata platform. This can be done via the HD4DP 2.0 software installed on the site, once the roll-out of the new version is complete, or via a centralized secure web version of HD4DP 2.0, for organizations where implementation is not yet complete. Read more about how to start working with HD4DP 2.0 within the context of the hand hygiene campaign.
  • If your organization does not yet have HD4DP 2.0 installed, we have made HD4DP 2.0 Web available temporarily. This is the only solution for care professionals in your organization to participate in the data collection. As soon as the implementation of HD4DP 2.0 is complete within your organization, Healthdata.be will integrate the data recorded in HD4DP 2.0 Web into your HD4DP 2.0 application installed on your premises.
  • For new subscriptions at this moment, you will need to contact your institute’s IT service. Having access to the correct procedure, they will contact the Healthdata — SOB service directly and subscribe you. 
  • You can find more information, including the study protocols, on the project page.

Quality indicators for hospital hygiene in acute hospitals (NSIH-QI)

  • Annual participation in the quality indicators project is mandatory for all acute hospitals. 
  • The data collection, including the collection of denominator data, is carried out via the Healthdata platform. Healthdata’s data-collection page contains more specifications from the NSIH-QI registration. 
  • You can find more information, including the study protocols, on the project page.

Denominator module and commonly used variables (NSIH-DENO)

  • Annual participation in the surveillance is mandatory for all acute hospitals. Denominator data is collected on a monthly basis.
  • Participation involves at least recording the number of hospitalizations, patient days and beds for the hospital, as well as the number of hospitalizations and patient days in intensive care.
  • The data collection is carried out via the Healthdata platform. Healthdata’s data-collection page contains more specifications on the NSIH Denominators registration.
  • The protocol containing information on how to complete the denominator data and on the variables commonly used is also available in Dutch and French.

Working with Healthdata, Healthstat and NSIHwin

You can register health data using the ‘Healthdata for Data Providers’ (HD4DP) software and the ‘NSIHwin’ software, depending on the surveillance. This software is installed on site in the hospital or laboratory and is accessible via the web browser. ‘Healthstat’ is the data visualization platform for Healthdata.be.

 Healthdata

HD4DP is an application that is available via a web browser (Google Chrome is preferred) in the hospital’s or laboratory’s local ICT environment. Every hospital has its own link. Access to this application can only be obtained through your site’s IT department and is the responsibility of your hospital’s VTE/RAE (Verantwoordelijke Toegangen Entiteit — Responsible for Access Entity) You must contact this person to get an account or gain access to a specific register.

Working with HD4DP:

Protection of the registration data

Medical and professional secrecy and privacy are protected through pseudonymization of the identification data, encryption and user-access management, among other things. The combination of these elements guarantees so-called ‘end-to-end security’.

During the data collection via HD4DP, all data is transferred securely (= pseudonymized) to Sciensano, using the e-Health box:

  • The data provider never receives the identification of those involved.
  • eHealth never has access to medical data or metadata.
  • Healthdata.be only receives pseudonymised identification codes.

 Healthstat

Healthstat.be is the data visualization platform for the Healthdata.be project. Researchers publish tables, figures and reports which they compile based on the data they have collected from Belgian hospitals, laboratories, doctors and patients. Hospitals can follow the development of their surveillance and compare their development with other or comparable institutions.

Healthstat.be guarantees protection of the patient’s and care-provider’s privacy as well as medical professional secrecy. Consequently, Healthstat.be does not contain any personal data such as a name, date of birth or national registry number for example.

Working with Healthstat:

  • The use of eID is required to gain access to Healthstat.be.
  • Always log in as a citizen.
  • To gain access to Helathstat reports, your VTE/RAE (Verantwoordelijke Toegang Entiteit [Responsible for Access Entity]) must create your user profile in UMAN.
  • More info.

NSIHwin

For more information about the software NSIHwin, you can contact the project manager via email (karl.mertens@sciensano.be) or by phone (02/642 57 95).

Problems with registration?

Healthdata

Are you having problems registering your data via Healthdata?

Take a look at the Healthdata support page or contact the Healthdata support center via the ticketing tool or phone (02/793 01 42).

NSIHwin

Are you having problems registering your data via Healthdata?

If you are, contact the project manager by email (karl.mertens@sciensano.be) or phone (02/642 57 95).

Any further questions?

Would you like more information about the NSIH surveillance? Contact us by email (nsih-info@sciensano.be) or by phone (02/642 51 11).

Would you like to send us data by email? You can do this via nsihdata@sciensano.be.

Would like to find out more about the work done by our Healthcare-associated infections and antibiotic resistance department? See our department’s page.

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