Overcoming limitations of tuberculosis information systems : researcher and clinician perspectives
Date
2019
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease
Abstract
Setting: Tuberculosis (TB) diagnosis and treatment requires
patients to have multiple encounters with health
care systems and the different stakeholders who play a
role in curing them to coordinate their efforts. To optimize
this process, high-quality, readily available data are
required. Data systems to facilitate these linkages are a
neglected priority which, if weak, fundamentally undermine
TB control interventions.
Objective: To describe lessons learnt from the use of
programmatic data for TB patient care and research.
Design: We did a survey of researcher and clinical provider
experiences with information systems and developed
a tiered approach to addressing frequently reported
barriers to high-quality care.
Results: Unreliable linkages, incomplete data, lack of a
reliable unique patient identifier, and lack of data management
expertise were the most important data-related
barriers to high-quality patient care and research. We
propose the creation of health service delivery environments
that facilitate, prioritize, and evaluate high-quality
data entry during patient or specimen registration.
Conclusion: An integrated approach, focused on
high-quality data, and centered on unique patient identification
will form the foundation for linkages across
health systems that reduce patient management errors,
bolster surveillance, and enhance the quality of research
based on programmatic data.
Description
CITATION: Van Der Heijden, Y. F., et al. 2019. Overcoming limitations of tuberculosis information systems : researcher and clinician perspectives. Public Health Action, 9(3):120-127, doi:10.5588/pha.19.0014.
The original publication is available at https://www.ingentaconnect.com
The original publication is available at https://www.ingentaconnect.com
Keywords
Tuberculosis, Medical record linkage, Dual record systems, Medicine -- Research, Patients -- Medical records
Citation
Van Der Heijden, Y. F., et al. 2019. Overcoming limitations of tuberculosis information systems : researcher and clinician perspectives. Public Health Action, 9(3):120-127, doi:10.5588/pha.19.0014