Table 1.
Organisation and management of 105 clinical databases with full entry in DoCDat, August 2003
| Features | No (%) of databases |
|---|---|
| Geographical area covered: | |
| Two or more UK nations | 45 (43) |
| One nation | 24 (23) |
| Regional | 36 (34) |
| Time frame for data collection: | |
| Continuous | 85 (81) |
| Periodic | 4 (4) |
| One off | 16 (15) |
| Use of nationally approved codes: | |
| Patient codes | 50 (48) |
| Clinician codes | 17 (16) |
| Institution codes | 30 (29) |
| Routinely linked to other databases | 49 (47) |
| Approval by clinical or professional body | 36 (34) |
| Composition of database management team: | |
| Doctors | 100 (95) |
| Nurses | 44 (42) |
| Allied health professionals | 27 (26) |
| Epidemiologists | 72 (69) |
| Statisticians | 83 (79) |
| Information technologists | 66 (63) |
| General managers | 34 (32) |
| Laypeople | 25 (24) |
| Funding: | |
| Public sector | 76 (72) |
| Private sector | 13 (12) |
| Provider subscriptions | 12 (11) |
| Charity | 19 (18) |
| None | 5 (5) |