6-1 Discussion: Data Sources and Uses, Registries

Data Sources and Uses
Name
Institutional Affiliation
Data Sources and Uses
Data sources are classified according to their relationship with the registry. Primary data include data collected for the direct use in the registry (Magnuson & Paul, 2013). Sources of primary data include journal articles of original research, tabulated health statistics, thesis and many more. Secondary data sources provide information that originally was not meant for the registry (Boslaugh, 2007). For instance, data collected as primary source for a given registry is considered secondary source of data for another registry. Indices to a registry facilitates access of data. Master Patient Index is described as a listing of all patients treated by a given health care facility.
Primary data is readily available to provide information on patient care. It is the most important form of data on patient care, as well as management. Primary data can be easily accessed by a secondary registry. Hence, management employs primary data in planning, sourcing important information and other uses. In patient care, primary data provides historical information on the patients (Boslaugh, 2007). Secondary data can be easily sourced electronically. Secondary data proves to be important in research, healthcare, policy making and education.
Procedure index and disease index...