Integrating EHR Medical Data Entry with Registry Studies

Precise medical data entry is crucial not just for hospitals and clinics, but also for the improvement of healthcare. This specifically refers to the role of EHR (electronic health record) data entry services in research.

It has been argued that integrating EHR in registry studies will be hugely beneficial to healthcare. EHRs as well as registries make use of clinical patient information. Registries, however, are focused on the population and are conceived to obtain pre-defined health outcome information. EHRs aim at collecting and using health-related information of individual patients. Both their roles are different though they do sometimes overlap in terms of functionality and are equally important for the healthcare system.

Medical Data Entry on a Wider Scale

Clinical studies have increased by more than tenfold in the past 15 years. While there were only 4,000 clinical studies conducted in 2000, today’s figures stand at nearly 200,000. Around 20% of such studies come under the registry classification. Randomized clinical trials are considered better for clinical decision making, but they are incapable of enabling research with a wider audience and over a longer time period. This is where registry studies help. They help researchers identify statistical results and complex patterns in outcomes that do not occur frequently.

However, registry studies have not been able to really integrate already existing patient data in EHRs. Efficient EDC (electronic data capture) tools can change this by providing for effective integration of EHR data. This could help do away with duplicate medical data entry and ensure greater data quality. Researchers can compile data dealing with standard of care and other information specific to the concerned study. Healthcare institutions, though, have not been swift in adopting advanced EHRs and big data analytics.

The Components of the EHR

The EHR is basically a patient’s medical record compiled in a digital format. EHRs are comprehensive and could include clinical as well as administrative data. The Institute of Medicine states four core functionalities of the EHR:

• Health data and information
• Results management
• Order entry and support, and
• Decision support

The EHR could collect lab data and physician notes along with medical histories, and also help in billing, appointment scheduling, prescription refills and inter-practice referrals. One of the main ingredients of this information is the daily patient consultation records which follow the SOAP pattern - Subjective, Objective, Assessment, Plan. This helps attain comprehensive records.

Problems with EHR Usage Hinder Research

Experts do believe that physicians and healthcare practices in the U.S. have not realized the full potential of the EHR. It is reported that only 78% of physicians actually use some kind of EHR while only 59% of physicians and 48% of hospitals use EHR in its advanced form.

According to Health Catalyst’s Dale Sanders, the healthcare industry collects data worth 100MB each year per patient which, he says, is easily dwarfed by the data collected by a Boeing 767 in a six-hour flight, and the data size of seven pictures taken on a smartphone with a 16MB camera resolution. Sanders and many other experts believe that data collection tools need to be expanded to cover many socioeconomic, lifestyle and environmental fields. Data collection should be carried out on not just patients seeking treatment, but also healthy patients.

However, data collection via EHR is often limited by the fact that many physicians struggle with data entry in the system. Even hospitals interested in advancing pharmaceutical research struggle with such physicians onboard. However, EHR use has brought about increased productivity for others. Consistent EHR usage across healthcare is essential for furthering research.

EDC-EHR Integration

Integration of EDC and EHR systems is needed for developing a solution, which would help in more efficient data entry and improved data quality. Data sharing standards are included in Stage 3 of the Meaningful Use criteria, but its implementation could even extend beyond the targeted year of 2018.

In any case, a close coordination between healthcare practitioners and researchers is essential if research needs to be furthered and EHRs integrated into registry studies. Comprehensive medical survey data entry will go a long way in improving the quality of healthcare.