Victorian-first patient journey data linkage for cardiovascular disease
SEMPHN is partnering with the Victorian Agency for Health Information (VAHI), Outcome Health and general practices across the catchment to co-develop and pilot an innovative data linkage asset.
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Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is a major cause of illness and death in Australia. Not surprisingly, treating people with CVD in hospital is much more costly than community-based treatment. In the SEMPHN region, CVD is the leading cause of death across the region, with nearly 60,000 residents in 2021 reporting living with heart disease and nearly 14,000 residents reporting having had a stroke.
Integrated care across the primary care and hospital sectors is crucial to ensure timely prevention of CVD hospitalisations. To inform better integrated care, comprehensive data is paramount to maintain a clear understanding of patient pathways through the health system and their health outcomes. However, patient and population data available across primary care and hospitals in Victoria is currently not ‘joined up’ to provide a clear understanding about the patient journey.
Consumer-focused healthcare is one of SEMPHN’s five strategic pillars. That means putting what consumer’s value in their healthcare, central to what we do. Evidence clearly demonstrates that primary care data when linked with system-wide health service and hospital data collections, has the potential to provide a full picture of the patient journey along the care pathway. NSW Health (through its Lumos program) is developing Australia’s first ever state-wide linked data asset, linking primary care data with hospital and other health-related administrative datasets. In Victoria, there is currently no such state-wide data asset that links primary care data and departmental administrative hospital collections.
SEMPHN is partnering with the Victorian Agency for Health Information (VAHI), Outcome Health and general practices across the catchment to co-develop and pilot an innovative data linkage asset. This Victorian-first partnership will provide a better view of where, when and how Victorians receive care. These insights will also help to understand the patient journey and how the health system can improve health outcomes of Victorians with or at risk of CVD.
Findings will inform a state-wide linked primary care and hospital data asset which will promote integrated care and stronger partnerships with general practitioners, acute care clinicians and health services at a local health service level. At a systems level, it informs Commonwealth and State governments to plan, invest and drive improvements in care.
Dr Galina Daraganova, Executive Director of Data, Evidence and Impact Services at SEMPHN, said;
‘We are proud to be leading the way by using linked data to drive decision making, better understand local needs and identify areas for improvement. This is about prioritising consumers’ needs and health outcomes without increasing costs to care.
Importantly, this project will provide a basis for future examination of other patient cohort groups and conditions across south-east Melbourne and support primary health population health planning across the region”.
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