The purpose and scope of electronic health data is expanding and understanding variation is critical to improving the quality, value and appropriateness of healthcare. Additionally, the provision of timely, relevant and reliable information on patient care to clinicians has been shown to drive improvements in health care quality. That said, clinicians currently have little ready access to data surrounding their performance or outcomes.
This abstract presents on an integrated program of work being undertaken by the Breast Cancer Institute, Westmead, the University of Sydney and Western Sydney Local Health District IT and Analytic teams. The program is working along the entire health data chain from capture to use in patient care, clinical decision support and research. Work has included the identification of priority domains for analysis including (1) oncological outcomes; (2) side effects of treatment; and (3) service provision. A number of prototype dashboards have been created and reviewed in the area of lymphoedema management.
The paper will present on the opportunities, challenges and outcomes of developing an integrated health data program within a clinical area.