Table 1.

Functional areas of the general practice's electronic patient records and the criteria used to validate them

Functional area	Validating criteria
Practice links with local health authority	Matching of patient lists against the health authority database
Appointment system	Validate against consultation records
Consultation event records	Validate place of consultation against patient contact lists. Check referral letters, reports, and incoming letters against record entries
Practice links with pathology laboratory	Validate against paper records and reports
Prescribing	Pharmacy survey of prescribed items, validate against hospital letters and discharge summaries
Search, call, and recall	Validate immunisation records against local NHS community trust database
Morbidity registers	Triangulate diagnostic codes against other diagnostic criteria (drugs or tests) for test conditions