Recent Developments in Information Management for Primary and Community Health Services

Abstract

While health services provided outside the hospital environment are utilised by the majority of the community, until recently there has been little interest in developing a standard approach to information management in community health settings. With greater accountability for health services expected in the future, State and Federal governments have begun to set the necessary standards by the design of a common data model and data definitions for Primary and Community Health Services. This model will affect the manner in which the National Health Data Dictionary develops — from a primarily institution-based document to a broader approach which encompasses non-institutional care. Two new high level concepts have been introduced: “issue” and “activity”. Four States have also formed a consortium to design and implement an information management system for Community Health Services. This necessitates adoption of standard classification systems which could be applied in this environment, especially to the two new high level concepts. This paper outlines recent developments in information management for Community Health and provides a brief summary of available classification systems.