TY - JOUR T1 - Primary care EMR and administrative data linkage in Alberta, Canada: describing the suitability for hypertension surveillance JF - BMJ Health & Care Informatics JO - BMJ Health Care Inform DO - 10.1136/bmjhci-2020-100161 VL - 27 IS - 3 SP - e100161 AU - Stephanie Garies AU - Erik Youngson AU - Boglarka Soos AU - Brian Forst AU - Kimberley Duerksen AU - Donna Manca AU - Kerry McBrien AU - Neil Drummond AU - Hude Quan AU - Tyler Williamson Y1 - 2020/08/01 UR - http://informatics.bmj.com/content/27/3/e100161.abstract N2 - Objective To describe the process for linking electronic medical record (EMR) and administrative data in Alberta and examine the advantages and limitations of utilising linked data for hypertension surveillance.Methods De-identified EMR data from 323 primary care providers contributing to the Canadian Primary Care Sentinel Surveillance Network (CPCSSN) in Alberta were used. Mapping files from each contributing provider were generated from their EMR to facilitate linkage to administrative data within the provincial health data warehouse. Deterministic linkage was conducted using valid personal healthcare number (PHN) with age and/or sex. Characteristics of patients and providers in the linked cohort were compared with population-level sources. Criteria used to define hypertension in both sources were examined.Results Data were successfully linked for 6307 hypertensive patients (96.2% of eligible patients) from 49 contributing providers. Non-linkages from invalid PHN (n=246) occurred more for deceased patients and those with fewer primary care encounters, with differences due to type of EMR and patient EMR status. The linked cohort had more patients who were female, >60 years and residing in rural areas compared to the provincial healthcare registry. Family physicians were more often female and medically trained in Canada compared to all physicians in Alberta. Most patients (>97%) had ≥1 record in the registry, pharmacy, emergency/ambulatory care and claims databases; 44.3% had ≥1 record in the hospital discharge database.Conclusion EMR-administrative data linkage has the potential to enhance hypertension surveillance. The current linkage process in Alberta is limited and subject to selection bias. Processes to address these deficiencies are under way. ER -