Design and Development of a Web-Based Registry for Outpatient Rehabilitation: A Delphi Multi-Disciplinary, Expert...

The goal of this research was to create a minimum data set (MDS) and design a web-based registry for outpatient rehabilitation, focusing on four disciplines: speech therapy, audiology, optometry, and physical therapy. The registry was intended to enhance assessment, guide optimal care, and provide value-based and evidence-based rehabilitation management for patients.

This cross-sectional study utilized the Delphi technique at Mashhad University of Medical Sciences in northeastern Iran from 2022 to 2023. First, the PubMed, Scopus, Embase, and Web of Science databases were searched in an untimed systematic review. Additional information was gathered from websites and forms related to rehabilitation systems. Coding guidelines were derived from the International Classification of Functioning, Disability, and Health. A questionnaire containing data elements of outpatient rehabilitation was developed based on the systematic reviews. The data items were validated in two stages using the Delphi approach. Subsequently, an MDS and a web-based registry were designed for outpatient rehabilitation.

The study included 25 eligible articles, 6 websites, and 24 forms to establish the rehabilitation MDS. A total of 470 information elements were extracted from the systematic review and rehabilitation registries. Through two rounds of the Delphi technique, 423 data elements were refined. The MDS was categorized into basic information and specialized information. Basic information comprised 12 subcategories of demographic details, socioeconomic information, referral information, service provider information, follow-up information, death information, history, past medical history, environmental factors, treatment measures, rehabilitation measures, and assessment of body systems; specialized information included four subcategories of optometry information, audiology information, physiotherapy information, and speech therapy information. Following the finalization of the MDS, a web-based registry for outpatient rehabilitation was created.

This work offers a combined MDS that reflects the priorities and viewpoints of multidisciplinary experts for an outpatient rehabilitation registry that aids in clinical decision-making.