The Indigenous primary health care national best endeavours data set (IPHC NBEDS) is primarily designed to support the collection of aggregate information from Indigenous-specific primary health-care services. The IPHC NBEDS describes the aggregate data to be reported by those Indigenous-specific primary health-care services.
For the purposes of the IPHC NBEDS, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander primary health care is defined as:
“…socially and culturally appropriate, universally accessible, scientifically sound, first level care. It is provided by health services and systems with a suitably trained workforce comprised of multidisciplinary teams supported by integrated referral systems in a way that: gives priority to those most in need and addresses health inequalities; maximises community and individual self-reliance, participation and control and; involves collaboration and partnership with other sectors to promote public health. Comprehensive primary health care includes health promotion, illness prevention, treatment, and care of the sick, community development, advocacy, and rehabilitation services.”
This definition has been endorsed by the Aboriginal Medical Services Alliance of the Northern Territory (AMSANT), the Australian General Practice Network (AGPN), the Australian Primary Health Care Research Institute (APHCRI), and the Australian Medical Association (AMA).
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander primary health care services include:
1. Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Service (ACCHS): primary health-care services initiated and operated by the local Aboriginal community to deliver holistic, comprehensive, and culturally appropriate health care to the community which controls it (through a locally elected Board of Management); and
2. Other Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander primary health-care services: health services funded principally to provide services to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander individuals with funding provided by the Australian Government and/or state or territory governments. These non community-controlled services mainly exist in the Northern Territory and northern part of Queensland.
Indigenous-specific primary health-care services aggregate their data using cohort definitions and specialised software and then submit the data to the Health Data Portal (HDP). The HDP is the Commonwealth Department of Health’s secure web-based data submission platform.
No individual level client data will be supplied by Indigenous-specific primary health-care services. The data do not include data elements describing any details relating to or arising from individual client visits, at the client visit level, e.g. blood pressure measurements, body mass index (BMI) values and so on. As such, the IPHC NBEDS refers to aggregate data at health-service level only.
Aggregate data were initially collected from a limited number of primary health-care services, i.e. those funded by the Office for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health (OATSIH; Commonwealth Department of Health) via the Healthy for Life program. From mid-2012, data collection was extended to the remainder of services funded by OATSIH to deliver primary health care.
Collection and usage attributes
Statistical unit:
Each unit represents aggregated data from an individual Indigenous-specific primary health care service.
Collection methods:
The IPHC NBEDS describes only the aggregated data. Client Information Systems (CIS) contain many variables related to individual clients, but only those data items specified by nKPI technical specifications are extracted. Many of these CIS are able to extract, aggregate and upload the de-individualised data directly to the Health Data Portal (HDP) though a direct-load process. Services with systems unable to complete the direct-load process are able to manually enter aggregated data directly into a web-based form through the HDP.
Once these data have been uploaded, reviewed and approved by the Indigenous-specific primary health-care service, they are then accessible to the AIHW. The AIHW reviews the data and works with the service on any potential data quality issues. Once the data are finalised, they are accessible to the Commonwealth Department of Health.
The regular client status of a client will be determined by the service.
National reporting arrangements
Each service funded to provide Indigenous-specific primary health care should record service provision in clinical information management systems that allow the electronic transmission of data for reporting.
Periods for which data are collected and nationally collated
Data collections and data reporting will be on a 6-monthly basis.
