ISPs could do better on data quality

Independent sector providers (ISPs) of NHS care have improved data submissions needed to track quality of care, but there are still ‘significant’ issues requiring attention, a new report says.

The report, from the NHS Information Centre, analysed the data quality of submissions and identified key areas for improvement.

It says that the data issues need attention because they may have a direct impact in the form of missing data on the NHS Choices website or through inaccurate payments.

The report, Data Quality Report for Independent Sector NHS-funded Treatment, Q1-Q2, 2007-8,  compares data quality for the ISPs with the NHS and changes in quality from previous quarters.

It also analyses the 10 data items with the lowest data quality by ISP site for valid, other default, invalid or missing data.

In admitted patient care – though average percentage validity rose over the period examined – the five areas with lowest validity were:

– Ethnic category

– Primary diagnosis

– Duration of elective wait

– Consultant code

– HRG (Health Resource Group) code version number

Across the different ISP sites data quality ranged from 59% to 99.6%

In outpatient care the report lists the five data items with the lowest validity as:

– Source of referral for outpatients

– Consultant code

– Service type requested

– Priority type

– Referral request received date

Again the different ISP sites had a wide range of performance on data quality ranging from 56.8% to 90.6% validity.

The report explains the implications of the missing data. For example, primary diagnosis records for NHS patients admitted for independent care – which ranged from fully valid to completely missing – are essential for calculating tariffs, grouping and casemix adjustment for performance analysis, and for understanding population demand.

In the outpatient area, the report explains that in “source of referral for outpatients” data, 23% of the ISP records were valid compared with 86% in the NHS. High quality data is needed for this field to measure the 18 week referral-to-treatment pathway, says the report.

NHS Information Centre chief executive, Tim Straughan, said: “The use and integration of independent sector providers is increasing through the ISTC [Independent Sector Treatment Centre] programme and the introduction of choice.

“For this reason, it is essential the NHS has the information it needs to be able assess the quality of care and compare one provider with another.

“The purpose of our report is to highlight to independent sector providers where there are weaknesses in the quality of data they are submitting and to help them address those weaknesses.

“Frontline NHS staff need comprehensive, up-to-date and high-quality information to enable them to make the best possible commissioning decisions to improve services for patients.

“The NHS Operating Framework, which sets out the priorities for the NHS during 2008/09, underlines the need for high-quality information to support all NHS business operations.

“But while there is a growing consensus around the importance of high-quality information, it is clear that much needs to be done to improve the quality of data collected by providers of NHS care – whether they are independent sector providers or NHS trusts.”

Link

Data Quality Report for Independent Sector NHS-funded Treatment, Q1-Q2, 2007-8