Australian general practitioner perceptions to sharing clinical data for secondary use: a mixed method approach

Area of Science:

• Health Services Research
• Medical Informatics
• Primary Care

Background:

• Increased interest in public acceptability of health data sharing for system improvement.
• General practitioners' (GPs) opinions on data sharing are underrepresented.
• Routinely collected general practice data holds potential for healthcare planning and research.

Purpose of the Study:

• To understand general practitioners' perceptions of sharing routinely collected data.
• To identify barriers and facilitators to data sharing in primary care.
• To compare findings with international data sharing perceptions.

Main Methods:

• Mixed methods approach: online survey followed by face-to-face interviews.
• Conducted with a convenience sample of general practitioners in Western Australia.
• Data collection occurred between November 2020 and May 2021.

Main Results:

• Strong agreement on the importance of sharing patient data for population health research and planning.
• Willingness to share data is contingent on trust in data collecting/analyzing organizations.
• Key factors include clearly defined data purpose, processes, and robust governance structures.

Conclusions:

• Concerns regarding trust, governance, and secondary data use hinder data sharing.
• Implementing strong, transparent data governance with stakeholder inclusion is crucial.
• Building trust with data entities and clarifying the role of government organizations are essential.