• Health, Standard 04/12/2013

The scope of the Government health expenditure national minimum data set (GHE NMDS) is direct government and government-funded expenditure on health and health-related goods and services.

The purpose of the GHE NMDS is to provide an enhanced understanding of the overall financial resources (recurrent and capital) used by the health system, and of unit costs and performance; to enable greater comparability of health expenditure data between jurisdictions and over time; and to provide a more efficient compilation of national reports and analyses on government funded health expenditure.

Providers of health or health related goods and services or non-health services that support the health services industry; health or health related functions; and the sources of funds for these providers or functions.

The GHE NMDS consists of five mandatory data clusters and one conditional data cluster.

The first two data elements named in each data cluster form one of the two axes of a matrix that combine to provide all data in Australian dollars.

Data are to be reported in Australian dollars, except when reporting the state/territory identifier of the jurisdiction.

Data are collected by a number of providers from their administrative systems and forwarded to the relevant state or territory health authority on a regular basis (for example, monthly).

Hospitals forward data obtained from patient administrative and clinical record systems to the relevant state or territory health authority on a regular basis (for example, monthly). Other data are obtained either directly from annual reports or through surveys.

National reporting arrangements:

State and Territory health authorities provide the data to the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare for national collation, on an annual basis.

Periods for which data are collected and nationally collated:

Financial years ending 30 June each year.

Preamble

Public health has been defined by the National Public Health Partnership (1998) as: "The organised response by society to protect and promote health, and to prevent illness, injury and disability. The starting point for identifying public health issues, problems and priorities, and for designing and implementing interventions, in the population as a whole, or population sub-group."

This data collection covers information from Commonwealth health agencies, Commonwealth specific purpose payments for public health and state and territory health departments and will therefore underestimate the 'effort' in public health.

Where possible, jurisdictions will note where public health expenditure is undertaken by non-health departments, or in parts of the health department where it is not possible to separate the public health components such as some aspects of service delivery by hospitals, and it is therefore not possible to report this expenditure.

Scope links with other NMDSs

• Public hospital establishments NMDS
• Mental health establishments NMDS

  
  Glossary items

  Glossary terms that are relevant to this National minimum data set are included here.

  Admission

  Ambulatory care

  Emergency department

  Emergency department - public hospital

  Geographic indicator

  Hospital-in-the-home care

  Outpatient clinic service

  Public health

  Resident

  Residential mental health care service

  Revenue (other revenue)

  Revenue (patient)

  Revenue (recoveries)