Dissemin is shutting down on January 1st, 2025

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Nature Research, npj Digital Medicine, 1(6), 2023

DOI: 10.1038/s41746-023-00891-y

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Impact of primary to secondary care data sharing on care quality in NHS England hospitals

Journal article published in 2023 by Joe Zhang ORCID, Hutan Ashrafian ORCID, Brendan Delaney ORCID, Ara Darzi ORCID
This paper is made freely available by the publisher.
This paper is made freely available by the publisher.

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Abstract

AbstractHealth information exchange (HIE) is seen as a key component of effective care but remains poorly evidenced at a health system level. In the UK National Health Service (NHS), the ability to share primary care data with secondary care clinicians is a focus of continued digital investment. In this study, we report the evolution of interoperable technology across a period of rapid digital transformation in NHS England from 2015 to 2019, and test association of primary to secondary care data-sharing capabilities with clinical care quality indicators across all acute secondary care providers (n = 135 NHS Trusts). In multivariable analyses, data-sharing capabilities are associated with reduction in patients breaching an Accident & Emergency (A&E) 4-h decision time threshold, and better patient-reported experience of acute hospital care quality. Using synthetic control analyses, we estimate mean 2.271% (STD+/−3.371) absolute reduction in A&E 4-h decision time breach, 12 months following introduction of data-sharing capabilities. Our findings support current digital transformation programmes for developing regional HIE networks but highlight the need to focus on implementation factors in addition to technological procurement.