Data Quality of General Practice Electronic Health Records: The Impact of a Program of Assessments, Feedback, and Training
- Mark Porcheret,
- Rhian Hughes,
- Dai Evans,
- Kelvin Jordan,
- Tracy Whitehurst,
- Helen Ogden,
- Peter Croft on behalf of the North Staffordshire General Practice Research Network
- Correspondence and reprints: Mark Porcheret, MBBS, Primary Care Sciences Research Centre, Keele University, Keele, Staffs ST5 5BG, United Kingdom; e-mail: <m.porcheret{at}keele.ac.uk>.
- Received 13 March 2003
- Accepted 17 September 2003
Abstract
Objective The aim of this study was to investigate the impact of a program of repeated assessments, feedback, and training on the quality of coded clinical data in general practice.
Design A prospective uncontrolled intervention study was conducted in a general practice research network.
Measurements Percentage of recorded consultations with a coded problem title and percentage of patients receiving a specific drug (e.g., tamoxifen) who had the relevant morbidity code (e.g., breast cancer) were calculated. Annual period prevalence of 12 selected morbidities was compared with parallel data derived from the fourth National Study of Morbidity Statistics from General Practice (MSGP4).
Results The first two measures showed variation between practices at baseline, but on repeat assessments all practices improved or maintained their levels of coding. The period prevalence figures also were variable, but over time rates increased to levels comparable with, or above, MSGP4 rates. Practices were able to provide time and resources for feedback and training sessions.
Conclusion A program of repeated assessments, feedback, and training appears to improve data quality in a range of practices. The program is likely to be generalizable to other practices but needs a trained support team to implement it that has implications for cost and resources.
Footnotes
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The authors thank all the general practitioners, practice nurses, and staff of the general practices who belong to the network for their participation in this study. The North Staffordshire General Practice Research Network was established and funded by the North Staffordshire Health Authority and North Staffordshire general practice fundholder savings. The Network is now funded by grants from the NHS(E), the North Staffordshire Primary Care Research Consortium, and the Staffordshire Moorlands Primary Care Research Consortium.
