Creating a general practice national minimum data set: present possibility or future plan?

Area of Science:

• Health Informatics
• General Practice Data Management
• Health Data Standards

Background:

• The New Zealand National Minimum Data Set (NMDS) working party established recommendations for standardized health data.
• Computerised systems are prevalent in general practices, offering potential for data collection.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the feasibility of applying NMDS recommendations within computerised general practices.
• To assess the completeness and compliance of data extracted from general practice computer systems against the NMDS structure.

Main Methods:

• Data from 12 computerised general practices were analyzed over a three-month period.
• Rates of recording key data elements, including patient demographics, ethnicity, and Read codes, were calculated.
• Completeness was assessed for automatically recorded and manually entered data.

Main Results:

• Patient demographic data (date of birth, sex) and subsidy eligibility were highly complete (over 98%).
• Data with less immediate clinical relevance, such as Read codes (32.4%) and ethnicity (5.0%), showed significant gaps.
• Manual data entry showed considerable variation in completeness across practices.

Conclusions:

• Deriving a common minimum data set from diverse computerised general practices is achievable.
• Gaps in data completeness highlight the need for targeted education and support for practice staff.
• Enhanced training is crucial for consistent and accurate recording of all NMDS data elements.