PhD Scientific Days 2023

Clinical Medicine IV.

Importance of structured data in health care

Text of the abstract

Introduction
Today's digital world creates opportunities for the rapid development of medical diagnostics, therapy and research. From the point of view of the university-level research and medical care, digital storage of data is crucial. Digitalization not only reduces the burden on doctors and researchers, but also allows them to develop more accurate and faster results in less time, with a greater insight into a disease. However, structured, accessible and transparent medical data storage in Hungary has not yet been solved. In the difficult-to-retrieve „data lakes”, based on paper or non-structured digital documentation, even with the proximity of doctors, it is difficult to involve all affected subjects into a research, even though the number of cases is extremely important regarding the relevance of our investigations.
Aims
Based on previous studies, is to confirm the increasing demand for the use of modern digital tools, electronic workflow and appropriate data processing in the medical sector. Our objective was to build our own interface in a structured database that we can implement in our daily iatric and research practice, for later use on preparing statistical analyses and scientific surveys. Furthermore, we were to train an algorithm that uses artificial intelligence for cephalometric analyses with the evaluation of more than 1600 lateral cephalograms.
Methods
After confirming that using structured data collection and assessment could be a promising technique to develop medical diagnoses, therapy and research processes, we created our own structured template for orthodontic evaluation in a structured database with the help of IT specialists. We integrated it into our daily used documentation software. According to the template, we collect the anamnestic, diagnostic and therapeutic data of the various orthodontic diagnostic metrics of each patient (ca. 120 values distance, angle and ratio measured in millimeter, degree and percentage per patient), in listed, table or graphically represented form, while a standard language is used.
Results
Our template meets the needs of our colleagues during their daily diagnostic rutin (photo, X-ray, and model analysis). We managed to integrate the new SQL database into our hospital information system (HIS), so it can also communicate with the National eHealth Infrastructure of Hungary (EESZT). Our template can be expanded, edited, renewed at any time in order to enter additional information or to fit individual claims. If required, we would build new templates according to anamnestic and diagnostic principles of any medical field.
Conclusion
Structured and standardized documentation has a positive effect on the quality of the findings, creating an opportunity to reuse data whenever it is necessary, facilitates the documentation activities of healthcare professionals. Our effort on the workflow optimalization of our obsolete documentation system can improve the quality of patient care and may increase the number and the quality of our scientific publications in the long term. Our database also creates the basis for interdisciplinary therapies and research, as well as the interoperable channels within countries or even across borders. Furthermore, the innovation of electronic health records has political and economic importance as well.
Funding
Scholarship for PhD student; Rácz Károly Klinikai Orvostudományok Doktori Iskola