title: What's behind the data: an examination of the processes and policies underlying the routine collection of clinical data in Ontario hospitals.
abstract: This article surveyed the processes and policies underlying the routine collection of clinical data in acute care hospitals in Ontario, Canada. Although there is evidence of a small shortfall in the availability of human resources, most health records departments employ experienced staff with health records certification. However, there is much more important variation in the documented and undocumented processes used to generate routinely collected clinical data. Current guidelines and coding schedules are helpful but insufficient to guide the production of good quality data. The variations in the processes used to produce clinical data have important implications for the management, reimbursement, and planning of healthcare. This is particularly critical at a time when hospitals and other stakeholders, such as governments, are relying more and more on accurate, reliable, and comparable data.
authors.affiliation: University of Toronto.
authors.forename: Paula
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Blackstein-Hirsch
authors.forename: Ruth
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Croxford
authors.forename: Virginia
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Flintoft
authors.forename: Adalsteinn D
authors.initials: AD
authors.lastname: Brown
mesh_terms: D002986:Clinical Trials as Topic; D003625:Data Collection / Q000379:methods; D006740:Hospital Administrators / Q000523:psychology*; D006801:Humans; D009864:Ontario; D016134:Organizational Policy; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires