Case Study
FTI Technology Supports Regulatory Agency With Document Review for Freedom of Information Requests
FTI Technology was approached by a health care regulatory agency in Europe to facilitate the consolidation and review of disparate data records needed to respond to Freedom of Information (FOI) requests relating to assessments of medical professionals’ fitness to practice.
Situation
This government agency is responsible for the registration, accreditation and regulation of medical professionals, and stives to ensure that all medical professionals meet the required standards of competence, conduct and professionalism to provide safe and effective care to patients. It also fields a large number of FOI requests from citizens seeking information on medical professionals and their fitness to practice.
Responding to these requests became a significant challenge given the large volume of requests and related documentation. The organisation needed to consolidate a vast amount of disparate data records relating to historical claims for negligence, misconduct and abuse, together with any associated high court orders and other assessments. The data was stored in different formats and systems and lacked a workflow or platform that enabled efficient or effective document review.
Our Role
Once FTI Technology was engaged, the team proposed consolidation of the data records, so they could be processed and organised into a single source of truth. This repository would enable the review of all claims and other relevant documentation relating to medical practitioners in question in FOI requests and other inquiries.
The solution made it possible for the client to accurately determine medical professionals’ fitness to practice. This was achieved through the following approach:
- Data Consolidation: FTI Technology consolidated the disparate data records into a single database. Records were extracted, transformed and loaded into the database, supported by FTI Technology’s data migration processes and expertise.
- Data Cleansing: FTI Technology performed data cleansing to ensure accuracy, completeness and consistency across the repository. This included identifying and removing duplicates, correcting errors and filling in missing data.
- Data Standardisation: Data formats and categories were standardised across taxonomy, formats and terminology to maintain consistency across all records.
- Review: The team conducted document review through several assessment techniques and provided recommendations based on the review outcomes.
- Analysis: A detailed analysis of the data helped to identify patterns, trends and outliers that may impact FOI workflows and accuracy. This analysis helped the regulatory body easily identify medical professionals who posed a risk to patients.
Our Impact
FTI Technology successfully consolidated a large population of disparate data records to enable an efficient and timely process for responding to FOI requests.
The client also used the data to identify areas where improvements could be made in the registration, accreditation and regulation of medical professionals, furthering the agency’s objectives in maintaining high standards across the health care ecosystem.
The team provided valuable recommendations to the regulatory body to improve the quality and frequency of medical practitioners’ information updates to publicly available information sources.