Surveillance Method Overview

The Arkansas Reproductive Health Monitoring System (ARHMS) conducts statewide, population‑based active surveillance of birth defects diagnosed prenatally and among children younger than two years of age. ARHMS monitors all pregnancy outcomes among Arkansas residents through systematic medical record review conducted by a specially trained abstraction team of health information management professionals. The team travels statewide to collect data from more than 40 delivering hospitals, prenatal diagnostic centers, hospital discharge records, birth statistics data and pediatric specialty care clinics, ensuring comprehensive and high‑quality surveillance data to support monitoring, research and prevention efforts.

Case Ascertainment

ARHMS uses a combination of active and passive case finding to identify eligible birth defect cases. Active surveillance includes systematic medical record review by trained staff. Passive methods incorporate existing data sources such as hospital discharge and vital records to support case identification and completeness.

Abstraction Team

A dedicated abstraction team of specially trained registered health information management professionals conducts statewide medical record review using standardized case definitions and protocols to ensure consistent and accurate data collection.

Data Sources and Coverage

Surveillance data are obtained from delivering hospitals, prenatal diagnostic centers, hospital discharge data, birth statistics and pediatric specialty care clinics across Arkansas to support high‑quality, population‑based surveillance.