Evidence map›Paper›PMID 34377471›Full record

ArticleSAGE open medicine2021

Do electronic reminders alter recorded diagnoses in primary care office-hours practices of health centers: A register-based study in a Finnish city.

Mika Lehto, Kaisu Pitkälä, Ossi Rahkonen, Merja K Laine, Marko Raina, Timo Kauppila

Open access · goldAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in SAGE open medicine, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
0.3field-weighted citation impact, top 40% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed, 2 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Observational
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

6 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.

Mika LehtoDepartment of General Practice and Primary Health Care, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7315-2118
Kaisu PitkäläDepartment of General Practice and Primary Health Care, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland.
Ossi RahkonenDepartment of Public Health, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland.
Merja K LaineDepartment of General Practice and Primary Health Care, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland.
Marko RainaVantaa Social and Health Bureau, Vantaa, Finland.
Timo KauppilaDepartment of General Practice and Primary Health Care, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6155-0300
University of Helsinki · FINational Bureau of Investigation · FI

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

objectivesOne purpose of electronic reminders is improvement of the quality of documentation in office-hours primary care. The aim of this study was to evaluate how implementation of electronic reminders alters the rate and/or content of diagnostic data recorded by primary care physicians in office-hours practices in primary care health centers.

methodsThe present work is a register-based longitudinal follow-up study with a before-and-after design. An electronic reminder was installed in the electronic health record system of the primary health care of a Finnish city to remind physicians to include the diagnosis code of the visit in the health record. The report generator of the electronic health record system provided monthly figures for the number of various recorded diagnoses by using the International Classification of Diseases, 10th edition, and the total number of visits to primary care physicians, thus allowing the calculation of the recording rate of diagnoses on a monthly basis. The distribution of diagnoses before and after implementing ERs was also compared.

resultsAfter the introduction of the electronic reminder, the rate of diagnosis recording by primary care physicians increased clearly from 39.7% to 87.2% (p < 0.001). The intervention enhanced the recording rate of symptomatic diagnoses (group R) and some chronic diseases such as hypertension, type 2 diabetes and other soft tissue disorders. Recording rate of diagnoses related to diseases of the respiratory system (group J), injuries, poisoning and certain other consequences of external causes (group S), and diseases of single body region of the musculoskeletal system and connective tissue (group M) decreased after the implementation of electronic reminders.

conclusionElectronic reminders may alter the contents and extent of recorded diagnosis data in office-hours practices of the primary care health centers. They were found to have an influence on the recording rates of diagnoses related to chronic diseases. Electronic reminders may be a useful tool in primary health care when attempting to change the behavior of primary care physicians.

Indexed as

Diagnoseelectronic medical recordelectronic reminderprimary carerecording

Identifiers

PMID34377471
PMCPMC8327226
OpenAlexW3192911838

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY
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Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.