Managers reports of automated coding system adoption and effects on data quality

• Published in: Methods of information in medicine Vol. 42; no. 3; p. 236
• Main Authors: Lorence, D P, Jameson, R
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Germany 2003
• Subjects: Attitude of Health Personnel; Automatic Data Processing - standards; Automatic Data Processing - utilization; Data Collection; Diffusion of Innovation; Forms and Records Control - standards; Humans; Medical Record Administrators - psychology; Medical Records Systems, Computerized - classification; Medical Records Systems, Computerized - standards; Quality Control; United States; United States
• ISSN: 0026-1270
• DOI: 10.1055/s-0038-1634356

Assessment of the adoption of automated classification (encoder) systems in healthcare settings and related effects on perceived data quality. Survey of all U.S. accredited medical records managers, summarizing their reports of automated encoding systems and data quality change following adoption of systems. Significant improvement in data was seen from adoption of automated encoding systems, though variation existed across regions and key demographic variables. At a national level, there is a need to minimize data quality variation and ensure some degree of nationwide uniformity in the performance of coding systems. If healthcare providers are expected to trust coded data for comparative purposes, there will be a like need for more uniform and standardized system-based performance benchmarks.