Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus bloodstream infection surveillance: National Healthcare Safety Network's laboratory-identified event reporting versus traditional laboratory-confirmed bloodstream infection surveillance.

Hospitals must report cases of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus bloodstream infection (BSI) using a new laboratory-identified (LabID) event reporting module. BSI rates obtained using LabID differ from rates of BSI obtained from traditional surveillance (concordance of healthcare facility-onset cases, 61%-76%) because definitions used to report LabID events are inconsistent with traditional BSI definitions.