Korean J Epidemiol.  2008 Dec;30(2):230-238.

Is the Tuberculosis Case Reporting Rate of Medical Care Institutions in Private Sector low?

• Han JS
• Jhang WG
• Hwangbo Y
• Lee SS
• Ki M

Abstract

PURPOSE
To estimate the reporting rate of tuberculosis in one medium-sized city in Korea.
METHODS
Data claimed by national health insurance corporationand notification data of KTBS (Korea Tuberculosis Surveillance System) were compared through medical record-linkage method. Regarding the cases that were claimed medical care fee as tuberculosis but not notified to KTBS, we reviewed medical charts of the patients and investigated the reasons of failure to notify.
RESULTS
Number of cases claimed health insurance fee as tuberculosis occurrences in Cheonan was 2,331 in 2007, while 956 cases were matched as notified cases to KTBS after electronic record-linkage by personal identifier. Among remaining 1,375 cases that were not matched, real missed cases through medical record review survey were found to be 104. The reasons of failure to notify were because of 'not tuberculosis patients' (500, 36.4%), 'notified in 2006' (421, 30.6%), 'diseases coding error' (341, 24.8%) and 'notified as other diseases' (9, 0.7%). Therefore, the corrected reporting rate was calculated at 93% (95% CI: 91.6% - 94.2%). Notably, reporting rate of clinics (58.1%) was significantly lower than those of hospitals (93.4%) or general hospitals (96.6%).
CONCLUSIONS
All cases of tuberculosis diagnosis, which were claimed and not notified, were verified, the reporting rate was not as low as that of the data known through media. However, to reach the goal of tuberculosis elimination (reporting rate over 95%), more effort into improvement of the reporting system is necessary.

Keyword

Tuberculosis; Mandatory Reporting; Disease Notification; Medical Record Linkage; Causes

MeSH Terms

Clinical Coding
Disease Notification
Electronics
Electrons
Fees and Charges
Hospitals, General
Humans
Insurance, Health
Mandatory Reporting
Medical Record Linkage
Medical Records
National Health Programs
Private Sector
Tuberculosis