Question

• Distinguish between primary and secondary data and between patient-identifiable and aggregate data
• Identify the internal and external users of secondary data
• Compare the facility-specific indexes commonly found in hospitals
• Describe the registries used in hospitals according to purpose, methods of case definition and case finding, data collection methods, reporting and follow-up, and pertinent laws and regulations affecting registry operations
• Describe AHIMA’s data quality model and explain its elements
• Identify the role of the health information management professional in creating and maintaining secondary records

Answer 1

Primary data:
• Definition: Primary data refers to the first hand data.
• Type of data: It is a real time and present data.
• Source: Surveys, observation, experiment, questionnaires, personal interview
• Cost effectiveness: Expensive
• Collection time: Long
• Specificity: Always specific
• Accuracy and reliability: More accurate and reliable
• Availability: Crude form
Secondary data:
• Definition: It is collected from someone else's findings and data which was collected earlier.
• Type of data: Past data
• Source: Government publications, websites, books, journals, articles, records
• Cost effectiveness: Economical
• Collection time: Short
• Specificity: May or may not
• Accuracy and reliability: Relatively less
• Availability: Refined form
Patient data: It is the data related to a single patient. It includes the diagnosis, name, age, medical history, etc. It is based on a single patient health care worker interaction. It is used to detect the progress of a patient over time. It should be highly confident while maintaining patient data.
Aggregated data: It is the consolidation of data of multiple patients. These include statistics of certain diseases like malaria, TB and other diseases. It is used for strategic planning within the health care sectors regarding such diseases. Confidentiality is not so important because data of a single patient cannot be obtained.