Banque de données communes des urgences (BDCU)

The Banque de données communes des urgences (BDCU) contains personal information on healthcare episodes and services offered to an individual registered in the emergency department of an establishment in Québec (MSSS, 2016a). The data input in the BDCU concerns users who have received urgent care and services that require opening a healthcare episode in a facility that operates an emergency department. The Système d’information de gestion des départements d’urgence (SIGDU), which belongs to the Ministère de la Santé et des Services sociaux (MSSS) and is hosted by Régie de l’assurance maladie du Québec (RAMQ), feeds the data bank. While data are compiled in real time, they are only transmitted to the MSSS every two weeks and validated once a year. Access to the data is restricted outside the MSSS. The BDCU contains, among others, the main diagnosis that the emergency physician made at the time of the user’s departure. However, since the list of diagnoses is limited in the system, certain ICD-10 codes (the tenth revision of the International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems) cannot be entered into the data bank. Codes are nonetheless available to identify mental disorders and behavioural disorders, including depression and anxiety.