title: Accuracy of routinely collected clinical data on acute medical admissions to one hospital.
abstract: Despite the rapid growth in routine computerized data collection within the National Health Service (NHS), and the increased use of such data for generating hospital statistics and doctor activity rates, few validation studies exist. During a study of 158 acute medical admissions, and examination of hospital data revealed numerous and systematic inaccuracies. If general practitioner (GP) performance statistics are to be reliably based on such sources, data validation, staff training, and protocols for data entry should form a routine part of NHS practice.
authors.affiliation: Department of General Practice, University of Birmingham.
authors.forename: F D
authors.initials: FD
authors.lastname: Hobbs
authors.forename: J V
authors.initials: JV
authors.lastname: Parle
authors.forename: J E
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: Kenkre
mesh_terms: D000208:Acute Disease; D000289:Admitting Department, Hospital / Q000592:standards* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D003625:Data Collection / Q000592:standards; D004739:England; D005194:Family Practice / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D016347:Medical Records Systems, Computerized / Q000592:standards* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011786:Quality Control; D015203:Reproducibility of Results