An embarrassment of data: how e-assessments are supporting front line clinical decisions and quality management across Canada and around the world

A unique collaboration between the Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI) and interRAI, an international research network, is supporting jurisdictions across Canada in collecting client-level clinical and administrative data for both primary and secondary uses. Standardized interRAI assessments, captured electronically and sent to CIHI, provide real-time decision support for clinicians as well as a rich longitudinal source of aggregate data for system planning, quality improvement and accountability. With over a million assessments in three CIHI-RAI data holdings, important benefits have already been realized at individual and organizational levels across eight Canadian jurisdictions. The evolution of a pan-Canadian interoperable EHR presents an exciting opportunity to optimize the value of these investments for the future.