Managing data quality in the health care industry: Some critical issues

Data quality analysis in health care is a large and ongoing problem. Because the scope oj health care information systems is extremely broad and because most such systems have either a direct or indirect impact on the provision of health care, their quality is a topic of critical importance for information management professionals. Of vital concern is the data flow from the point of patient service delivery to an end point of decision support and analysis of the data derived from the encounter. The historical use of these data, their current uses and how industry dynamics have created a need for improved l^ata quality provides the context for a discussion of health care data quality. We address the definition of health care data, assessing data quality, and the need for ejfective data quality management. Next, the paper reviews some popular methods employed in the health care industry. We then propose an integrated framework to improve data quality in health care, and finally summarize the conclusions of this study

The Impacts Of User Review On Software Responsiveness: Moderating Requirements Uncertainty

Rapidly changing business environments and evolving processes increase the uncertainties in IS development. To produce a high-quality system that responds to user needs is challenging. We attempted to determine whether user reviews during the development process could reduce uncertainties and improve the product. Technology structuration theory indicated that users, as actors participating in reviews during the development of a system, could help reduce uncertainty in the organizational requirements and thus improve the software product. A survey of system developers indicated that user requirements uncertainty had a direct, negative effect on software responsiveness but that user review, serving as a moderator, could reduce this effect. © 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved