Overcoming the Challenges of Unstructured Data in Multi-site Electronic Medical Record-based Abstraction

摘要

BackgroundUnstructured data encountered during retrospective electronic medical record (EMR) abstraction has routinely been identified as challenging to reliably abstract, as this data is often recorded as free text, without limitations to format or structure. There is increased interest in reliably abstracting this type of data given its prominent role in care coordination and communication, yet limited methodological guidance exists.