Why a dearth of sports and exercise medicine/physiotherapy research using hospital electronic medical records? A success story and template for researchers.

In hospital systems, large volumes of data are routinely collected in digital form. Advances in electronic medical record systems have created digital health data that are well coded and structured, as well as unstructured data such as clinical notes and medical images. These data have value for researchers aiming to improve the quality of healthcare. Five barriers limit our ability to use and access electronic medical record data for research: 1. Data are stored across numerous data tables, in a variety of formats, within fragmented or siloed data systems. 2. Data quality is inconsistent (and at times poor). There are inaccuracies in recording, such as duplicate entries, missing data and incorrect diagnosis codes. 3. Efficient tools to quickly identify, link and capture relevant electronic medical record data are scarce. 4. Bureaucratic layers of governance, complex ethics approval processes and privacy legislation restrictions slow research. 5. Data collected for administrative or compliance purposes may not contain relevant research outcomes. These barriers mean that, with respect to sports injuries, for example, there are relatively few studies that describe the patterns or the quality and safety of healthcare using hospital-based electronic medical record data,1 2 although these injuries are commonly seen in outpatient clinics, emergency departments and inpatient wards. We report opportunities to use electronic medical record data …