Improving Health Care Data in Ontario

January 2005

Quality health care data is essential to plan and improve the quality, efficiency and equity of health care services. In other jurisdictions, substantial investments in health care data have transformed the performance and efficiency of health care delivery, for example, the U.S. Department of Veterans’ Affairs.

This report provides a description of the usefulness and limitations of existing provincial data for services provided within Ontario’s publicly funded health care system. Chief concerns addressed include: comprehensiveness, completeness, accuracy, timeliness, linkability, anonymity and consistency over time. In particular, the report describes uses of available data and outlines the improvements required to meet the Ontario health care system’s growing information needs.

Keywords: Data collection Data evaluation Health informatics