The Inequality of Patient Profile Information in Japanese Hospitals.

A model dataset of patient profile information was created based on the items used at five Japanese university hospitals, the patient information data elements in Health Level 7 (HL7) v2.5, and the standard datasets for medical information exchange used in Japan. In order to check the validity of the model dataset, a cross-sectional survey was performed. A preliminary analysis of 20 Japanese hospitals found that most items were implemented at some hospitals, but the number of items implemented at many hospitals was rather small. This result strongly shows the necessity for a standardized dataset of patient profile information.