To fulfill its health monitoring and surveillance mission, Santé publique France requires reliable data to generate multi-source epidemiological indicators in near real time, covering the entire patient care pathway. Coordinated by Santé publique France, the Orchidée project aims to establish multi-theme epidemiological surveillance based on hospital data. The network covers all French regions and the French West Indies.

Where did the Orchidée project come from?

The COVID-19 pandemic demonstrated the importance of monitoring the dynamics of an emerging phenomenon on a daily basis to better control its spread in the population.

In France, reporting on the number of cases relies on specific surveillance systems such as the notifiable diseases system, emergency services (Oscour), general practitioners (SOS Médecins, Sentinelle network), medical and social care facilities and services, as well as biological (Laboé-SI), virological (Emergen-DB), and wastewater (Sum’eau) data. Mortality is also monitored on a daily basis, particularly through electronic death certification.

Despite this multi-source system, apart from emergency departments and certain surveillance systems in intensive care units, no data is collected to provide an overall view of the hospital. It is therefore important, in order to have a comprehensive view, to complete the hospital monitoring system. It was with this in mind that the Orchidée project was established as part of a consortium coordinated by Santé publique France, which held its kick-off meeting on October 9, 2024.

What are its objectives?

Orchidée’s main objective is to provide authorities with high-quality epidemiological indicators so that they can monitor the epidemiological situation in hospitals in real time. To achieve this, the concept of “secondary use of data” is favored, so that the indicators are generated from existing hospital data, without requiring healthcare professionals to enter additional information twice, thereby avoiding wasted time. This model is intended to become more widespread, to strengthen national, regional, and European capacity to monitor diseases and make the most of the health data entered daily by hospitals.

What will Orchidée bring to the field of public health?

Orchidée will fill a gap in France's surveillance system by providing real-time information on the health situation in major French hospitals regarding morbidity and/or mortality for a range of diseases. It will also enable preparedness for future exceptional health situations, particularly the emergence of new viruses that could have a significant impact on morbidity and/or mortality in hospitals.

Who is involved?

The ORCHIDEE project is led by a consortium coordinated by Santé Publique France, with the participation of:

• 26 university hospital centers (Amiens, Angers, Assistance Publique - Hôpitaux de Paris, Besançon, Bordeaux, Brest, Caen Normandie, Dijon, Grenoble, Guadeloupe, Lille, Limoges, Lyon, Martinique, Metz-Thionville, Montpellier, Nantes, Nancy, Nice, Poitiers, Reims, Rennes, Rouen, Strasbourg, Toulouse, Tours),

• the Health Data Hub,

• the University of Bordeaux,

• the School of Advanced Studies in Public Health.

How will the results be disseminated?

The epidemiological indicators produced by the hospitals will be sent to Santé publique France, which will centralize, compile, interpret, and report on them. These indicators will be available on Santé publique France’s open data website and will be used to produce epidemiological bulletins and various other materials (articles, reports, etc.) posted on our website.

Funding

The project is co-funded by the European Commission in the amount of 9.2 million euros as part of the EU4Health program (call: EU4H-2023-DGA-MS3-IBA, project: 101182831). The total budget for the project is 15.3 million euros over a four-year period (October 1, 2024 – September 30, 2028). The EU4Health program aims to improve and strengthen national surveillance systems.

Timeline / Key project milestones from late 2023 to 2026