Improving the use of clinical databases

The need for high quality clinical databases has been thoroughly documented1 2 3 They offer the opportunity to carry out evaluative research and clinical audit, inform the planning and management of services, and provide individual clinicians with accurate estimates of the outcome of care that can be shared with prospective patients.

Despite these potential benefits, clinical databases have generally had few supporters and have attracted considerable scepticism and criticism. Much of the doubt about their value arises from a tendency to treat them all alike. As with all forms of information or methods of inquiry, both good and bad examples exist.

In an attempt to …