 |
The 130th Annual Meeting of APHA |
|
The 130th Annual Meeting of APHA |
Robin H. Pugh Yi, PhD, Steve Mallory, BA, Fran L. Tepper Harmon, PhD, and Gail Bassin, MBA. Johnson, Bassin, & Shaw, Inc., 8630 Fenton St., Ste. 1200, Silver Spring, MD 20910, 301-495-1080, rpughyi@jbs1.com
Web-based technology presents an opportunity for data collection which is more efficient and accurate than paper and pencil data collection. However, implementation involves both challenges and opportunities. Since 2000, the Drug Abuse Warning Network (DAWN), a national epidemiological data collection system, has been transitioning from paper and pencil to electronic data submission. Lessons learned during this transition are expected to be useful to researchers interested in implementing a web-based data entry system.
Since 1972, DAWN data have been abstracted from medical records in emergency departments and death investigation records produced by medical examiners, recorded on paper by reporters in the field, then submitted to a central office where data were coded and entered into the central database. In 2000, a website was developed to allow reporters to submit data electronically. The web-based data entry system automatically codes and formats data for the central database. Computerizing these tasks also improves data quality. Currently, nearly 150 of 200 participating medical examiners and 200 of 500 participating emergency departments now submit DAWN data electronically. Data are available for downloading to the central database as soon as reporters submit them.
Reporters from the entire spectrum of computer experience report that their data entry time is reduced by using the electronic data entry method. DAWN staff solicit reporter feedback and review technical assistance requests as part of ongoing efforts to improve the applications' user-friendliness. Reporter feedback and examples of quality improvement efforts will be presented.
Learning Objectives: At the end of the session, participants will
Keywords: Coding, Challenges and Opportunities
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.