A Qualitative Study to Understand the Cultural Factors That Influence Clinical Data Use for Continuing Professional Development

Researchers investigated physicians' perception of individual, organizational and systemic cultural factors affecting use of clinical data to better understand lifelong learning and self-initiated continuing professional development activities. The authors interviewed 28 physicians: 17 psychiatrists and 11 general surgeons from Canada and the United States. Iterative thematic analysis uncovered three key themes — a strong relationship between data and trust; a team-centered approach to data-informed learning for practice improvement; and the need for organizational support and advocacy to practically apply data. "Building trust, taking a team-based approach, and engaging multiple stakeholders, such as data specialists and organizational leadership, may significantly improve the use of data-informed learning," the authors concluded.

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