Clinical Education Data Management: Current Landscape in Entry-Level Physical Therapist Education.

Area of Science:

• Health Professions Education
• Information Systems in Healthcare
• Data Management in Education

Background:

• Clinical education data management (DM) systems offer innovation potential in allied health education for data-driven decision-making (DDDM).
• Understanding these systems in physical therapy (PT) programs provides insight into operations and potential solutions for clinical education (CE) challenges.

Purpose of the Study:

• To describe the utilization of CE DM systems in entry-level PT education programs.
• To inform recommendations for CE DM and enhance knowledge sharing and DDDM.

Main Methods:

• A cross-sectional survey was distributed to faculty and administrators in entry-level PT education programs.
• The survey included demographic questions and detailed inquiries about CE DM system usage, analyzed using descriptive statistics and content analysis.

Main Results:

• 111 PT programs responded (50% response rate) to a survey on CE DM systems.
• Respondents use multiple systems for CE tasks, with 43% using a single system and 76% of those using a Software as a Service vendor.
• 86% are satisfied with their CE DM systems, entering data on site information, CE environment, experience length, and instructor details. Data extraction for placement (94%) and curriculum (70%) decisions is common.

Conclusions:

• Variability in CE DM systems exists, but common functionalities, data entry, and extraction practices were identified.
• CE DM systems contain crucial data for addressing challenges within clinical education.
• Further exploration of strategies to improve data accessibility and utilization for DDDM is recommended.