Australia needs to make better use of hospital data
Although not the traditional focus of public reporting of Australian hospital care, data already exist that can be used to improve clinical quality, patient-centeredness and safety of care in hospitals, according to a supplement to the 18 October issue of the Medical Journal of Australia.
The supplement, entitled Using what we gather — information for improved care, describes initiatives across Australia that are using data to improve care in this manner.
Mr Neville Board, Information Strategy Manager at the Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care, Sydney, and co-author Dr Diane Watson, Chief Executive of the Bureau of Health Information, Sydney, reviewed articles in the Information for Improved Care supplement.
Dr Watson said that, if the purpose of reporting is better quality of care for patients, selection of measures should be driven by the priorities of consumers, clinicians and health care management and policy communities.
“If the purpose of reporting is accountability, selection of measures depends on the aim of investments,” Dr Watson said.
“If the purpose is transparency about the performance of hospitals, the people of Australia will want a broad and balanced portfolio of measures that reflect their priorities for information.
“Authors of articles in this supplement highlight how current information systems in Australia can be used to gather meaningful, useful information for clinical improvement,” Mr Board said
“It’s up to the rest of us to build on these initiatives to create and use timely, accurate and comparable information about the performance of hospitals in Australia to support better care,” Dr Watson said.
The Medical Journal of Australia is a publication of the Australian Medical Association.
The statements or opinions that are expressed in the MJA reflect the views of the authors and do not represent the official policy of the AMA unless that is so stated.
CONTACT: Ms Amy Winter 02 9126 3605 / 0417 832 189
Communications Coordinator and Media Liaison
Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care
