Data quality in hospital strategic information systems: a summary of survey findings

Fundamental changes in health care financing and delivery have resulted in an unprecedented need for data and information. The application of computer technology to daily hospital operations has gone far toward aiding various kinds of organizational decision making. The quality of those decisions, however, is dependent upon the quality of the data delivered by the various information systems used in the course of health care delivery and management. What remains unknown is the extent to which poor data quality occurs and what actions are taken to measure and control data quality in information systems used for strategic decision making. This article summarizes the results of a survey that was conducted for the purpose of explaining what information systems are important to hospital administrators in their strategic decision making, the frequency with which strategic decision makers encounter data quality problems, and what, if any, actions are taken to prevent, control, or correct apparent data quality problems.