Can existing electronic medical records be used to quantify cardiovascular risk at point of care?

Area of Science:

• Cardiology
• Health Informatics
• Public Health

Background:

• Electronic data utilization for cardiovascular risk stratification offers potential for prioritizing healthcare access and optimizing prevention strategies.
• Accurate cardiovascular risk assessment is essential for effective patient management and resource allocation.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the feasibility of calculating the Australian absolute cardiovascular disease risk (ACVDR) and the History, ECG, Age, Risk factors, and Troponin (HEART) score using data from Electronic Medical Records (EMR) and My Health Record (MHR).
• To assess the completeness of patient data within EMR and MHR for cardiovascular risk stratification in patients presenting with acute cardiac symptoms.

Main Methods:

• A retrospective audit of EMR and MHR data was conducted for 200 adult patients presenting to a Rapid Access Cardiology Clinic (RACC).
• The study assessed the proportion of patients for whom ACVDR and HEART scores could be calculated based on available electronic data.
• Data completeness for key variables required for both risk scores was analyzed.

Main Results:

• An ACVDR score could be estimated for only 17.5% of patients using EMR data and 0% using MHR data.
• Complete data to calculate the HEART score was unavailable for all patients in both EMR and MHR.
• Commonly missing data for ACVDR included blood pressure and HDL cholesterol; for HEART score, missing data included BMI and comorbidities.

Conclusions:

• Significant deficiencies exist in the electronic capture of critical variables necessary for comprehensive cardiovascular risk assessment.
• Prioritizing the collection of clinically relevant data in electronic medical systems is imperative to bridge gaps in cardiovascular care and management.
• Enhancing data quality in EMR and MHR is vital for accurate risk stratification and personalized cardiovascular prevention.