b'CARES Annual Report 2019 | 13Reporting CapabilityThe CARES software includes functionality to automateSoftware Logic and Auditing data analysis for participating EMS agencies. The reportsIn order to provide consistent data validation across the include 911 response intervals, delivery rates of criticalregistry, each CARES record is reviewed for interventions (i.e. bystander CPR, dispatcher CPR, publiccompleteness and accuracy through an automated audit access defibrillation [PAD]), and community rates ofalgorithm. Once the record is processed by the survival using the Utstein template. An EMS agency hasalgorithm, data entry errors are flagged for review by continuous access to their data and can generateEMS and hospital users (as appropriate) and CARES staff. reports by date range at their convenience. TheLogic and error messages are also incorporated into the software is also capable of aggregate reporting suchdata-entry form to minimize the number of incomplete that CARES staff can generate custom reports forfields and implausible answer choices during the data benchmarking and surveillance purposes. In addition,entry process. Finally, aggregate data is analyzed on a hospitals have access to facility-specific reports,regular basis to identify agency-specific anomalies. allowing users to view pre-hospital and in-hospitalCARES staff utilize site-by-site comparison tools to characteristics of their patient population withdetect outliers and compare each agencys data with the benchmarking capability. A robust query feature alsonational average. allows agencies and hospitals to create customized searches of their data. These search results can be easilyCase Ascertainment exported to Microsoft Excel for further analysis.Each EMS agency is asked to confirm their non-traumatic call volume to ensure capture of all arrests in Data Validationa defined geographic area. The volume of OHCA per month is compared with historic monthly volumes by The CARES quality assurance process is one of theCARES staff; when a substantial drop in the number of strengths of the registry, as a number of measures areevents occurs, the EMS contact is notified to determine taken to ensure the integrity and accuracy of the data.if the variation was real or the result of a lag in the data-These measures include standardized training of allentry process. In addition, CARES conducts a bi-annual CARES users, built-in software logic, an audit algorithmassessment of population coverage and case ensuring consistent data validation across the registry,ascertainment. CARES staff and State Coordinators and a bi-annual assessment of population coverage andprovide each EMS agencys geographic coverage, census case ascertainment.population, and start date via a standardized template. Training, Education, and SupportThis information is then linked with record volume to identify outliers across the entire registry. In the event Training, education, and ongoing technical andthat an outlier is found, CARES staff or the State operations support are key components of CARES thatCoordinator works closely with the EMS agency to contribute to the registrys success and enhance theidentify any issues in the data collection process and experience for participating sites. During the enrollmentresolve as needed. process, EMS and hospital users receive extensive training from CARES staff on the data elements, data collection process, and features of the CARES website. This training includes a one-on-one session with a CARES Program or State Coordinator prior to being granted access to the software. EMS and hospital users are also provided with numerous resources, including a detailed CARES data dictionary and a CARES user guide. Once a community has been participating in the registry for an extended period of time, CARES provides ongoing support in the form of answering questions as needed, providing updated training documents, and responding to individual reporting requests.'