The Health Information and Quality Authority has published an international review of data quality.

All healthcare organisations produce a large volume and variety of data, ranging from administrative data used to manage healthcare organisations to laboratory results and subjective descriptions of a patient’s state of health.

The quality of this data is important as it contributes to improved outcomes for patients when it can be relied upon to support decision-making.

The development of national standards and guidance for health information governance in Ireland will contribute to delivering better, safer care. This review is the fourth in a series of initiatives undertaken by the Authority in relation to information governance and follows the publication of an “as is” analysis of information governance in health and social care settings in Ireland, an international review of information governance structures and privacy impact assessment guidance.

As a first step in the process of developing the standards and guidance, the Authority has conducted a review of international practice. The review examined data quality initiatives in England, Wales, Canada and New Zealand and found that while each of the countries had data quality initiatives in place, some had more advanced structures and processes than others.

The Authority will consider the relevant information from this review to identify the best practice options that may be tailored for Ireland to inform the development of national standards and associated guidance in order to support the delivery of safer better care in Ireland.

ENDS

Further Information: 

Sinead Whooley, Communications Manager, Health Information and Quality Authority
Tel: 01 8147488/ 087 9221941

Notes to the Editor: 

• Data quality refers to data that is accurate, valid, reliable, relevant, legible, complete and available in a timely manner to decision-makers for healthcare delivery and planning purposes.
• National standards for data quality identify what structures and processes organisations should have in place to create a supportive environment for data quality and outline a framework to enable the collection, analysis, sharing and use of good quality data to support the delivery of health and social care and to report on performance.
• As good quality health information is dependent on good quality data, it is therefore logical that efforts to improve the information on which decisions are based will start with ensuring that data is collected, processed and analysed appropriately.