A real-time alert message
was sent automatically after an AFB result was keyed
into the laboratory information system. All messages
were transmitted to the doctors and nurses who cared
for patients with positive findings, to the head nurses
of the wards, and to the staff of the Department of
Infection Control. The HCWs workers who received the
message could reply to the message to indicate that
they would respond to notification. To evaluate the impacts
of these improvements, we defined a baseline
phase from January 1, 2004, to February 28, 2005, and
an intervention phase from July 1, 2005, to August 31,
2006. We retrospectively reviewed and compared the
results from AFB smears and TB cultures from patients
with active TB who were reported to the CDC of Taiwan
during the 2 phases.