Ever since EHRs arrived on the scene, healthcare providers have been searching for ways to effectively exploit the power of the terabytes of patient data they hold in order to inform better clinical and financial decisions. Yet despite ongoing efforts, challenges persist regarding data accuracy and the role it plays in downstream analytics.

In an effort to understand how patient data is used, and to identify the key data quality issues impacting the achievement of organizations’ strategic goals, HIMSS, in collaboration with IMO, conducted a survey of clinical, IT, and business personnel at various US hospitals and health systems. This white paper reveals key learnings from the survey, including details about how patient data is most commonly used, what the ripple effects of incomplete or inaccurate data are, and the implications of subjective documentation from providers.