Information quality in home care coordination services

With the increasing use of telecare, attention is being given to the information quality (IQ) issues related to the collection, storage and sharing of user data. This is particularly true for personal information and informal information flows between caregivers and care service providers. We examined data from interviews with developers and users during the pilot stage of a Web and mobile phone accessible database and software application to support carers by providing access to personal care records. The standard IQ dimensions reflect a view in which the supplier passes information to the user. This does not fully reflect the relationship and information flow in care record systems which hold and collect quite personal user data. The three additional IQ dimensions necessary are updateability, interoperability and portability - these form a new category, 'Controllability IQ'.