Butler Amanda Leanne, Smith Mark, Jones Wayne, Adair Carol E, Vigod Simone N, Lesage Alain, Kurdyak Paul
Faculty of Health Sciences, Simon Fraser University, 8888 University Drive, Burnaby, B.C. Canada V5A 1S6.
Manitoba Centre for Health Policy Community Health Sciences, Max Rady College of Medicine, Rady Faculty of Health Sciences #408-727 McDermot Ave. University of Manitoba Bannatyne Campus, Winnipeg, MB R3E 3P5 Canada.
Int J Popul Data Sci. 2018 Sep 21;3(3):443. doi: 10.23889/ijpds.v3i3.443.
Canada has a publicly-funded universal healthcare system with information systems managed by 13 different provinces and territories. This context creates inconsistencies in data collection and challenges for research or surveillance conducted at the national or multi-jurisdictional level.
Using a recent Canadian research project as a case study, we document the strengths and challenges of using administrative health data in a multi-jurisdictional context. We discuss the implications of using different health information systems and the solutions we adopted to deal with variations. Our goal is to contribute to better understanding of these challenges and the development of a more integrated and harmonized approach to conducting multi-jurisdictional research using administrative data.
Using data from five separate provincial healthcare data systems, we sought to create and report on a set of provincially-comparable mental health and addiction services performance indicators. In this paper, we document the research process, challenges, and solutions. Finally, we conclude by making recommendations for investment in national infrastructure that could help cut costs, broaden scope, and increase use of administrative health data that exists in Canada.
Canada has an incredible wealth of administrative data that resides in 13 territorial and provincial government systems. Navigating access and improving comparability across these systems has been an ongoing challenge for the past 20 years, but progress is being made. We believe that with some investment, a more harmonized and integrated information network could be developed that supports a broad range of surveillance and research activities with strong policy and program implications.
加拿大拥有一个由公共资金资助的全民医疗保健系统，其信息系统由13个不同的省份和地区管理。这种情况导致数据收集不一致，并给国家或多辖区层面的研究或监测带来挑战。
以加拿大最近的一个研究项目为案例研究，我们记录了在多辖区背景下使用行政卫生数据的优势和挑战。我们讨论了使用不同卫生信息系统的影响以及我们为应对差异而采取的解决方案。我们的目标是促进对这些挑战的更好理解，并推动开发一种更综合、协调的方法，以便利用行政数据开展多辖区研究。
利用来自五个不同省级医疗保健数据系统的数据，我们试图创建并报告一组省级可比的心理健康和成瘾服务绩效指标。在本文中，我们记录了研究过程、挑战和解决方案。最后，我们通过对国家基础设施投资提出建议来得出结论，这有助于降低成本、扩大范围并增加对加拿大现有行政卫生数据的使用。
加拿大在13个地区和省级政府系统中拥有大量行政数据。在过去20年里，在这些系统中获取数据并提高可比性一直是一项持续的挑战，但正在取得进展。我们相信，通过一些投资，可以开发出一个更协调、综合的信息网络，以支持广泛的监测和研究活动，并对政策和项目产生重大影响。
