Biomedical subjects

Ruth-Ann Soodeen

Publications and source records attributed to Ruth-Ann Soodeen.

3 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2006

Can the quality of care in family practice be measured using administrative data?

OBJECTIVE: To explore the feasibility of using administrative data to develop process indicators for measuring quality in primary care. DATA SOURCES/STUDY SETTING: The Population Health Research Data Repository (Repository) housed at the Manitoba Centre for Health Policy which includes physician claims, hospital discharge abstracts, pharmaceutical use (Drug Program Information Network (DPIN)), and the Manitoba Immunization Monitoring Program (MIMS) for all residents of Manitoba, Canada who used the health care system during the 2001/02 fiscal year. Family physicians were identified from the Physician Resource Database. Indicators were developed based on a literature review and focus group validation. DATA COLLECTION/EXTRACTION METHODS: Data files were extracted from administrative data available in the Repository. We extracted data based on the ICD-9-CM codes and ATC-class drugs prescribed and then linked them to the Physician Resource Database. Physician practices were defined by allocating patients to their most responsible physician. Every family physician in Manitoba that met the inclusion criteria (having either 5 or 10 eligible patients depending on the indicator) was 'scored' on each indicator. Physicians were then grouped according to the proportion of the patients allocated to their practice who received the recommended care for the specific indicator. PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Using administrative health data we were able to develop and measure eight indicators of quality of care covering both preventive care services and chronic disease management. The number of eligible physicians and patients varied for each indicator as did the percent of patients with recommended care, per physician. For example, the childhood immunization indicator included 544 physicians who, on average, provided immunization for 65 percent of their patients. CONCLUSIONS: Quality of care provided by family physicians can be measured using administrative data. Despite the limitations addressed in this paper, this work establishes a practical methodology to measure quality of care provided by family physicians that can be used for quality improvement initiatives.

Data Collection↗

PubMed2005

Data quality in an information-rich environment: Canada as an example.

This review evaluates the quality of available administrative data in the Canadian provinces, emphasizing the information needed to create integrated systems. We explicitly compare approaches to quality measurement, indicating where record linkage can and cannot substitute for more expensive record re-abstraction. Forty-nine original studies evaluating Canadian administrative data (registries, hospital abstracts, physician claims, and prescription drugs) are summarized in a structured manner. Registries, hospital abstracts, and physician files appear to be generally of satisfactory quality, though much work remains to be done. Data quality did not vary systematically among provinces. Primary data collection to check place of residence and longitudinal follow-up in provincial registries is needed. Promising initial checks of pharmaceutical data should be expanded. Because record linkage studies were ''conservative'' in reporting reliability, the reduction of time-consuming record re-abstraction appears feasible in many cases. Finally, expanding the scope of administrative data to study health, as well as health care, seems possible for some chronic conditions. The research potential of the information-rich environments being created highlights the importance of data quality.

Canada↗

PubMed2003

Working more productively: tools for administrative data.

OBJECTIVE: This paper describes a web-based resource (http://www.umanitoba.ca/centres/mchp/concept/) that contains a series of tools for working with administrative data. This work in knowledge management represents an effort to document, find, and transfer concepts and techniques, both within the local research group and to a more broadly defined user community. Concepts and associated computer programs are made as "modular" as possible to facilitate easy transfer from one project to another. STUDY SETTING/DATA SOURCES: Tools to work with a registry, longitudinal administrative data, and special files (survey and clinical) from the Province of Manitoba, Canada in the 1990-2003 period. DATA COLLECTION: Literature review and analyses of web site utilization were used to generate the findings. PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: The Internet-based Concept Dictionary and SAS macros developed in Manitoba are being used in a growing number of research centers. Nearly 32,000 hits from more than 10,200 hosts in a recent month demonstrate broad interest in the Concept Dictionary. CONCLUSIONS: The tools, taken together, make up a knowledge repository and research production system that aid local work and have great potential internationally. Modular software provides considerable efficiency. The merging of documentation and researcher-to-researcher dissemination keeps costs manageable.

Databases as Topic↗