Australian health review : a publication of the Australian Hospital Association
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Comparative Study
Identification of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women using an urban obstetric hospital.
To determine the accuracy of routine identification of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women confining at King George V (KGV) Hospital, located in Sydney, Australia. ⋯ Routine identification significantly under-represents Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander women giving birth at an urban obstetric hospital. We recommend the development and use of a sensitive but also specific series of questions to ensure women always are given the opportunity to disclose their status, especially as few women appear to mind such questions.
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This study aims to quantify trends in emergency presentations to Northern Territory (NT) public hospitals over the past five years with respect to demand and access. Retrospective analysis was undertaken on data extracted from the NT Module of Caresys and the Hospital Morbidity Data System. There has been a 4.6% decrease in presentations to the five public hospitals between 1996 and 2001 compared to a 9.4% growth in the population. ⋯ Access analysis of presentations seen within the recommended triage time revealed considerable variability, especially for triage categories 2, 3 and 4. The access block problem, discrepancies in recorded waiting time and irregularities among the regional hospitals within the triage system have also been identified. Recommendations including improved access to inpatient beds and admission to wards were developed in response to the changing role of the emergency department.
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This paper presents findings from a study that investigated performance measurement for primary health care services delivered by the community health sector, and assessed the effectiveness and value of a performance measurement approach in the evaluation of these services. Eleven semi-structured interviews were conducted with key stakeholders in South Australia. The findings indicate that three major steps are needed to move forward in the use of performance measurement in the community health sector. These steps are i) development of a policy and strategy statement for community health, ii) identification of performance domains and indicators, and iii) development of appropriate data systems.
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Future demand for general practice services: effects of population change and trends in service use.
This study investigated three key determinants of demand for general practice services: population growth, population ageing and trends in service use. Projection of future service use on the basis of the two demographic factors yielded a projected growth in number of general practice services of 5.9% by 2006, with a further 6.5% growth by 2011. ⋯ It is concluded that population ageing and population growth will continue to be major drivers of demand for general practice services in the next decade. Patterns of service use will also be a key contributor, with increased use of long consultations suggesting a greater requirement for the general practice workforce than has previously been proposed.
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This study investigates how accurately the waiting times of patients about to join a waiting list are predicted by the types of statistics disseminated via web-based waiting time information services. Data were collected at a public hospital in Sydney, Australia, on elective surgery activity and waiting list behaviour from July 1995 to June 1998. ⋯ The accuracy of the tested statistics varied greatly, being affected more by the characteristics and behaviour of a surgeon's waiting list than by how the statistics were derived. For those surgeons whose waiting times were often over six months, commonly used statistics can be very poor at forecasting patient waiting times.