Clinical Data Sets Supporting the Test Cases
As described in the Test Cases page, there will be a set of test cases focused on ensuring that the Patient Summary document is structured in the expected format and that it contains the required information using the correct data types and valuesets, where specific valuesets are defined as required in the national (PS-CA) and harmonized provincial Patient Summary specifications from two leading jurisdictions: Alberta (PS-AB) and Ontario (PS-ON).
The following table provides the clinical data sets for testing the PS-CA, PS-AB and PS-ON.
| Clinical Data Sets | Description | Sample(s) |
|---|---|---|
A clinical data set that represents the required information using the correct data types and valuesets, where specific valuesets are defined as Required in the PS-CA. | ||
PS-AB Clinical Data Set (Excel) (Coming soon!) | A clinical data set that represents the required information using the correct data types and valuesets, where specific valuesets are defined as Required in the PS-AB. | Coming soon! |
| A clinical data set that represents the required information using the correct data types and valuesets, where specific valuesets are defined as Required in the PS-ON. |
Data Configuration Guide
In preparation for testing the PS-CA, test cases will validate the PS-AB and PS-ON specifications, which are very closely aligned to the PS-CA and should be supported by minimal configuration of capability in the vendor systems. An analysis between PS-CA, PS-AB, PS-ON has been developed to help you get the most out of your testing. This document provides the necessary configurations for testing the PS-AB and PS-ON specifications.
This document was published on November 23, 2022 as a point-in-time document and is subject to change. If/when changes are required, we will post a notification in the Patient Summary Working Group and update the document on this page.
Example Clinical Scenario
The following clinical scenario presents the journey of a patient who does not have a family physician (i.e., unattached patient). Unfortunately, this is becoming more common. Although the Patient Summary will not solve the problem of patients not having family physicians or other primary care providers, it may improve patient safety issues and dangerous information gaps that patients/families are navigating in the current environment. In the clinical scenario presented below, the journey of Jesse is described in the current-state "with unconnected systems" and in the future-state "with connected systems".
What problems does the PS-CA solve?
Even in the age of digital health, system incompatibilities across the spectrum and a lack of data integration and portability at points of care mean that data is often “locked” in an individual system. This causes several issues:
- Unless visiting their own family physician (where the bulk of primary data resides), most other healthcare episodes typically lack access to data, raising the risk of unintended side effects or adverse reactions and reducing quality of care unintentionally
- Patient satisfaction suffers as expectations are not met due to extended waiting times for diagnosis, when information is either missing or inaccessible and at times inaccurate
- Inefficiencies in care provision due to time required to locate information for clinicians already feeling burn-out
- Inability for funders to receive reliable business intelligence to support the most effective funding decisions
When data language, common data elements and exchange methods are aligned and technical components are available, information can be shared quickly, efficiently, and easily whether within a region, a province, a country or international setting. To learn more about the Patient Summary and the tangible benefits that we can expect, please visit the PS-CA v1.0.0 TI Patient Summary Overview.