RESEARCH ARTICLE Open Access Approaches to ascertainin information: validation of r

Full list of author information is available at the end of the articleBackground The importance of electronic, routinely collected health care information has been at the forefront of discussion in recent years. Substantial investment by healthcare pro-viders internationally in digital health systems is capturing increasing amounts of clinical information as part of rou-tine care [1-3]. The potential application of such data ex-tends beyond the ‘day to day care ’ of individual patients; with important roles in planning and costing health ser-vices, population health surveillance and research. In the UK, information about an episode of hospital care is recorded following a patient’s discharge. Details of diagnoses are coded using the World Health Organi-sation’s International Classification of Disease (ICD) [4]. In Scotland, this information is recorded on the Scottis