Selection Bias and Missing Data in COVID-19 Population Studies

In the presence of an epidemic, it is important for hospitals and health maintenance organizations to have indications of changes in rates of exposure among patients and the general population.  We are currently developing approaches to collecting and analyzing data on viral exposure among patients in a hospital system and performing statistical adjustments to estimate viral incidence and trends in the community.  We plan to implement this monitoring and analysis protocol in the Michigan hospital system to perform local data collection and analysis, ultimately with an eye to linking to national data collection efforts.