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BMC Medical Informatics and Decision Making
Published in: BMC Medical Informatics and Decision Making 1/2019

Open Access 01-12-2019 | Care | Research article

A basic model for assessing primary health care electronic medical record data quality

Authors: Amanda L. Terry, Moira Stewart, Sonny Cejic, J. Neil Marshall, Simon de Lusignan, Bert M. Chesworth, Vijaya Chevendra, Heather Maddocks, Joshua Shadd, Fred Burge, Amardeep Thind

Published in: BMC Medical Informatics and Decision Making | Issue 1/2019

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Abstract

Background

The increased use of electronic medical records (EMRs) in Canadian primary health care practice has resulted in an expansion of the availability of EMR data. Potential users of these data need to understand their quality in relation to the uses to which they are applied. Herein, we propose a basic model for assessing primary health care EMR data quality, comprising a set of data quality measures within four domains. We describe the process of developing and testing this set of measures, share the results of applying these measures in three EMR-derived datasets, and discuss what this reveals about the measures and EMR data quality. The model is offered as a starting point from which data users can refine their own approach, based on their own needs.

Methods

Using an iterative process, measures of EMR data quality were created within four domains: comparability; completeness; correctness; and currency. We used a series of process steps to develop the measures. The measures were then operationalized, and tested within three datasets created from different EMR software products.

Results

A set of eleven final measures were created. We were not able to calculate results for several measures in one dataset because of the way the data were collected in that specific EMR. Overall, we found variability in the results of testing the measures (e.g. sensitivity values were highest for diabetes, and lowest for obesity), among datasets (e.g. recording of height), and by patient age and sex (e.g. recording of blood pressure, height and weight).

Conclusions

This paper proposes a basic model for assessing primary health care EMR data quality. We developed and tested multiple measures of data quality, within four domains, in three different EMR-derived primary health care datasets. The results of testing these measures indicated that not all measures could be utilized in all datasets, and illustrated variability in data quality. This is one step forward in creating a standard set of measures of data quality. Nonetheless, each project has unique challenges, and therefore requires its own data quality assessment before proceeding.
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Metadata
Title
A basic model for assessing primary health care electronic medical record data quality
Authors
Amanda L. Terry
Moira Stewart
Sonny Cejic
J. Neil Marshall
Simon de Lusignan
Bert M. Chesworth
Vijaya Chevendra
Heather Maddocks
Joshua Shadd
Fred Burge
Amardeep Thind
Publication date
01-12-2019
Publisher
BioMed Central
Keyword
Care
Published in
BMC Medical Informatics and Decision Making / Issue 1/2019
Electronic ISSN: 1472-6947
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1186/s12911-019-0740-0

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