Meningitis outbreak prompted electronic access

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — State Health Department workers visited multiple hospitals daily during the early weeks of a deadly fungal meningitis outbreak, picking up stacks of printed patient records to be entered into databases by hand.

But it was taking too long as the number of patients rapidly grew. So for the first time during an ongoing public health emergency, agency leaders decided they needed the hospitals to allow them to access the records from their computers.