‘SIMPATI - Surveillance of nosocomial infections and MRP in outpatient intensive care’ is a pilot project that aims to develop, introduce and initially evaluate a surveillance system for nosocomial infections and multi-resistant pathogens in outpatient intensive care facilities.

The study is funded by the Joint Federal Committee (GBA) as part of the German Innovation-Fund.

If you have any questions or require further information, you can contact the head of the study, Dr Christine Geffers or Dr Nouri-Pasovsky:

Tel.: 030-8445 3671 (Charité Clinical Study Team)
Fax: 030-450 577 920

E-Mail: pauline-assina.nouri@charite.de

Alternatively, you can contact our consortium partner from the Lower Saxony State Health Office (NLGA) - Mr Patrick Ziech

Tel.: 0511 4505-129

Dear SIMPATI participants,

You can access the study materials (training films, case studies for practice, FAQs, ... ) after logging in at the top right of this page.

For what reasons is surveillance also necessary in outpatient intensive care?

Increasing numbers of people with respiratory insufficiency can now receive intensive medical care outside a hospital. In the last amendment to the Infection Protection Act in 2018, the obligation to implement measures to prevent nosocomial infections and the spread of pathogens was expressly extended to include outpatient intensive care. However, an important tool for realising modern hygiene management - surveillance - has been lacking in this area.

What does surveillance mean?

Surveillance enables facilities to gain knowledge of their own infection and pathogen frequency (e.g. multi-resistant pathogens = MRP). It also allows for comparison with reference data from similar facilities (benchmarking). Furthermore, it sensitises their employees to nosocomial infections and MRP. As a result, infection and MRP data can be used to improve hygiene in a targeted manner.

The Hospital Infection Surveillance System (KISS) has been successfully established in the inpatient sector for many years. Its main purpose is to provide quality assurance in high-risk areas of hospitals (e.g. intensive care units). Participation in KISS is voluntary, but it allows participating clinics to analyse and, if necessary, improve their processes through integrated anonymous benchmarking.

KISS

There are currently no methods or surveillance systems for outpatient intensive care that could be used for internal quality management.

What do we want to achieve?

This pilot project ‘SIMPATI - Surveillance of nosocomial infections and MRP in outpatient intensive care’ serves to develop, introduce and initially evaluate a surveillance system for nosocomial infections and multi-resistant pathogens in outpatient intensive care facilities. It is investigating whether the standardisation and visualisation of patient treatment in outpatient intensive care can lead to improvements in the quality of medical care.

How do we proceed?

Participating care services carry out surveillance of infection incidents and MRP for patients with tracheostomy tubes using a standardised method over a period of 2 years (Nov 2020 - Nov 2022). Employees are trained by the surveillance team and receive ongoing technical and professional support. The data collected is used for individualised feedback in the care services in order to initiate targeted improvements. Furthermore, participants are offered training materials and recommendations on a regular basis.

Who can participate?

• Outpatient care services
• Care/Nursing facilities
• Residential communities,
  who care for patients with tracheostomy tubes (with or without ventilation) in outpatient care (nationwide).