Data Quality in Health Care: Main Concepts and Assessment Methodologies.

INTRODUCTION: In the health care environment, a huge volume of data is produced on a daily basis. However, the processes of collecting, storing, sharing, analyzing, and reporting health data usually face with numerous challenges that lead to producing incomplete, inaccurate, and untimely data. As a result, data quality issues have received more attention than before. OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this article is to provide an insight into the data quality definitions, dimensions, and assessment methodologies. METHODS: In this article, a scoping literature review approach was used to describe and summarize the main concepts related to data quality and data quality assessment methodologies. Search terms were selected to find the relevant articles published between January 1, 2012 and September 31, 2022. The retrieved articles were then reviewed and the results were reported narratively. RESULTS: In total, 23 papers were included in the study. According to the results, data quality dimensions were various and different methodologies were used to assess them. Most studies used quantitative methods to measure data quality dimensions either in paper-based or computer-based medical records. Only two studies investigated respondents' opinions about data quality. CONCLUSION: In health care, high-quality data not only are important for patient care, but also are vital for improving quality of health care services and better decision making. Therefore, using technical and nontechnical solutions as well as constant assessment and supervision is suggested to improve data quality.

Data quality assessment in emergency medical services: an objective approach.

BACKGROUND: In emergency medical services, high quality data are of great importance for patient care. Due to the unique nature of this type of services, the purpose of this study was to assess data quality in emergency medical services using an objective approach. METHODS: This was a retrospective quantitative study conducted in 2019. The research sample included the emergency medical records of patients who referred to three emergency departments by the pre-hospital emergency care services (n = 384). Initially a checklist was designed based on the data elements of the triage form, pre-hospital emergency care form, and emergency medical records. Then, data completeness, accuracy and timeliness were assessed. RESULTS: Data completeness in the triage form, pre-hospital emergency care form, and emergency medical records was 52.3%, 70% and 57.3%, respectively. Regarding data accuracy, most of the data elements were consistent. Measuring data timeliness showed that in some cases, paper-based ordering and computer-based data entry was not sequential. CONCLUSION: Data quality in emergency medical services was not satisfactory and there were some weaknesses in the documentation processes. The results of this study can inform the clinical and administrative staff to pay more attentions to these weaknesses and plan for data quality improvement.