Infection surveillance systems in primary health care: A literature review.

The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010 is placing primary care at the epicenter of accountability of US health care delivery. There is a significant body of evidence characterizing the value of acute-care hospital infection surveillance systems. Given the central role primary care is beginning to play, we were interested in examining the use of infection surveillance systems in primary care practice. Our review of the literature found only 2 articles describing the influence of primary care infection surveillance systems, both providing evidence of its benefits. This area is ripe for further research.