Development of a framework to assess the quality of data sources in healthcare settings

The purpose of this study was to develop a framework to assess the quality of healthcare data sources.

First, a systematic review was performed and a thematic analysis of included literature conducted to identify items relating to the quality of healthcare data sources. Second, expert advisory group meetings were held to explore experts' perception of the results of the review and identify gaps in the findings. Third, a framework was developed based on the findings.

Synthesis of the review results and expert advisory group meetings resulted in 8 parent themes and 22 subthemes. The parent themes were: Governance, leadership, and management; Data; Trust; Context; Monitoring; Use of information; Standardization; Learning and training. The 22 subthemes were: governance, finance, organization, characteristics, time, data management, data quality, ethics, access, security, quality improvement, monitoring and feedback, dissemination, analysis, research, standards, linkage, infrastructure, documentation, definitions and classification, learning, and training.

The herein presented framework was developed using a robust methodology which included reviewing literature and extracting data source quality items, filtering, and matching items, developing a list of themes, and revising them based on expert opinion. To the best of our knowledge, this study is the first to apply a systematic approach to identify aspects related to the quality of healthcare data sources.

The framework, can assist those using healthcare data sources to identify and assess the quality of a data source and inform whether the data sources used are fit for their intended use.