Citation

Wagner MM, Robinson JM, Tsui FC, Espino JU, Hogan WR. J. Am. Med. Inform. Assoc. 2003; 10(5): 409-418.

Affiliation

The RODS Laboratory, Center for Biomedical Informatics, University of Pittsburgh, Suite 550, 100 Technology Drive, Pittsburgh, PA 15219, USA. mmw@cbmi.pitt.edu

Copyright

(Copyright © 2003, American Medical Informatics Association, Publisher Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

10.1197/jamia.M1357

PMID

12807802

PMCID

PMC212777

Abstract

The National Retail Data Monitor receives data daily from 10,000 stores, including pharmacies, that sell health care products. These stores belong to national chains that process sales data centrally and utilize Universal Product Codes and scanners to collect sales information at the cash register. The high degree of retail sales data automation enables the monitor to collect information from thousands of store locations in near to real time for use in public health surveillance. The monitor provides user interfaces that display summary sales data on timelines and maps. Algorithms monitor the data automatically on a daily basis to detect unusual patterns of sales. The project provides the resulting data and analyses, free of charge, to health departments nationwide. Future plans include continued enrollment and support of health departments, developing methods to make the service financially self-supporting, and further refinement of the data collection system to reduce the time latency of data receipt and analysis.

Language: en