Using administrative data for longitudinal research: comparisons with primary data collection.

This paper discusses the advantages and disadvantages of using administrative data for longitudinal research, focusing on loss to follow-up. Comparisons between research relying on primary data collection and that using data bases are made. After development of a suitable framework, follow-up in several well-known projects based on primary data collection (the Seven Countries project on coronary heart disease, the Massachusetts research on long-term care and the Pittsburgh clinical trial of tonsillectomy) is compared with follow-up using the Health Services Commission data base in Manitoba, Canada.

Centralization, certification, and monitoring. Readmissions and complications after surgery.

Research on adverse outcomes following common surgical procedures has suggested the importance of hospital and surgeon variables. Policy directions depend on which factors are important in influencing patient outcomes and what sorts of policies are feasible. Focusing on where a given procedure is performed highlights a concern for centralization; emphasizing who should perform a particular operation implies physician certification.

Using computers to identify complications after surgery.

We used the Health Services Commission data from Manitoba, Canada to identify complications resulting from hysterectomy, cholecystectomy, and prostatectomy which led to hospital readmissions. For each procedure, two specialists independently judged whether the readmissions were for surgery-related complications on the basis of liberally interpreted literature guidelines. Then, each pair of physicians met to resolve differences; only complications agreed upon by physicians were retained in our computer-based analysis.

When surgical rates change. Workload and turnover in Manitoba, 1974-1978.

This research analyzes the changes in individual physician surgical workload and accompanying changes in surgical rates in Manitoba, Canada between 1974 and 1978. Data covering essentially all operations on provincial residents age 25 years and older were analyzed using information from the health insurance data base. The most dramatic change was a 50% rise in outpatient surgery.

How good are the data? Reliability of one health care data bank.

This study investigates the reliability of the Manitoba Health Services Commission data bank from a variety of perspectives. Emphasizing diagnostic and surgical procedures, the research focuses on those areas in which problems exist and in which the data can be relied upon. Computerized comparisons are stressed, since they can provide cost-effective checks on data quality.