Health care professionals’ perspectives on the secondary use of health records to improve quality and safety of care in England: qualitative study

Background: Health care professionals (HCPs) are often patients’ first point of contact in what concerns the communication of the purposes, benefits, and risks of sharing electronic health records (EHRs) for nondirect care purposes. Their engagement is fundamental to ensure patients’ buy-in and a successful implementation of health care data sharing schemes. However, their views on this subject are seldom evaluated. Objective: This study aimed to explore HCPs’ perspectives on the secondary uses of health care data in England. Specifically, we aimed to assess their knowledge on its purposes and the main concerns about data sharing processes. Methods: A total of 30 interviews were conducted between March 27, 2017, and April 7, 2017, using a Web-based interview platform and following a topic guide with open-ended questions. The participants represented a variety of geographic locations across England (London, West Midlands, East of England, North East England, and Yorkshire and the Humber), covering both primary and secondary care services. The transcripts were compiled verbatim and systematically reviewed by 2 independent reviewers using the framework analysis method to identify emerging themes. Results: HCPs were knowledgeable about the possible secondary uses of data and highlighted its importance for patient profiling and tailored care, research, quality assurance, public health, and service delivery planning purposes. Main concerns toward data sharing included data accuracy, patients’ willingness to share their records, challenges on obtaining free and informed consent, data security, lack of adequacy or understanding of current policies, and potential patient exposure and exploitation. Conclusions: These results suggest a high level of HCPs’ understanding about the purposes of data sharing for secondary purposes; however, some concerns still remain. A better understanding of HCPs’ knowledge and concerns could inform national communication policies and improve tailoring to maximize efficiency and improve patients’ buy-in