Improving people's health through better quality control and health data collection at local Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Services is the aim of a $2.8 million national project funded by the Liberal National Government.
Our Government recognises the importance of Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Services (ACCHS), with data showing they provide over 2.5 million episodes of care each year for more than 350,000 people.
However, to help achieve better health outcomes as our Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population grows, we need to support accountability, quality improvement and accurate data reporting.
In 2017, the Department of Health engaged KPMG to develop a national baseline quality audit at the individual service level to identify issues impacting on data quality and reporting and make recommendations for improvement. From February to May last year, 53 ACCHS volunteered to participate in the project.
The final report found that, despite reporting on national Key Performance Indicators and Online Services Report data collections since 2012-13 and 2007-08 respectively, only 30 per cent of the services visited were rated as having effective and mature processes in place to support and measure health data. The remaining 70 per cent were classified as needing support to improve.
The reports found characteristics of mature services include:
• Leadership focussed on a strong culture of Continuous Quality Improvement
• Clear workflows including induction, training and monitoring programs
• Resources and staff dedicated to recording and reporting health care activities
In Stage 2 of this project this year, KPMG will offer all health services not involved in Stage 1 the opportunity to participate, plus follow-up consultations for ACCHS in Stage 1 and the development of online training resources.
KPMG will also convene a national forum on best practice so ACCHS can share successful and effective reporting processes and practices with each other.
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