Accessing information about the health of Australians and healthcare performance will be made easier by two new online resources launched by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW).
The Australian Health Performance Framework (AHPF) was created by the Australian Health Ministers’ Advisory Committee (AHMAC) as a single mechanism for system-wide health reporting.
“As part of implementing the framework, we’ve created an online ‘national front door’ to health information,” AIHW spokesman Dr Adrian Webster said.
“The new AHMAC-funded resource includes information on AHPF indicators and analysis of how Australia is tracking in terms of health and health system performance.”
Users can also access information released by the AIHW and other key national, state, territory and non-government agencies, such as the Australian Bureau of Statistics, the National Health Funding Body, the Victorian Agency for Health Information, the Independent Hospital Pricing Authority, the NSW Bureau of Health Information, and the Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care.
“In this context, and as part of our ongoing efforts to make navigating health information easier, the AIHW has also redeveloped our platform for reporting on the Australian hospital system”, Dr Webster said.
“For the first time, the new MyHospitals reporting platform will bring local-level data together with the state and territory and national level information previously published through the longstanding Australian Hospitals Statistics series of reports.
“The new platform presents data and information on spending on hospitals, workforce issues, hospital activity, the safety and quality of care in hospitals and access to hospital services. It also includes new ‘my local area’ functionality that allows users to explore data about a specific hospital or local hospital network.”
Dr Webster said he is confident these new online tools will make it easier for people to find information that is relevant to them.
According to the AIHW website, AHPF indicators and health system information and the MyHospitals content will be continually revised and improved with new AHPF indicators to be developed over time with input from Commonwealth, state and territory governments, clinicians, health consumers and academics.
“We hope the AHPF and new MyHospitals will play a pivotal role in improving health outcomes for all Australians and ensuring the sustainability of the health system by providing easy-to-navigate information regarding the performance of our health system,” Dr Webster said.
