Connect
MJA
MJA

Government plans for public reporting of performance data in health care: the case for

Christine M Jorm and Michael S Frommer
Med J Aust 2011; 195 (1): . || doi: 10.5694/j.1326-5377.2011.tb03186.x
Published online: 4 July 2011

Medical academics Christine Jorm and Michael Frommer believe it is simply the right thing to do

For vast amounts of performance data are collected in the Australian health system, many of which are released by agencies such as the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, state and territory health departments and the Australian Bureau of Statistics. However, merely releasing performance data is different from publicly reporting such data. Public reporting incorporates interpretation and comparisons that make the data meaningful for the community.


  • Sydney Medical School, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW.



Competing interests:

None identified.

  • 1. Fung C, Lim Y, Mattke S, et al. Systematic review: the evidence that publishing patient care performance data improves the quality of care. Ann Intern Med 2008; 148: 111-123.
  • 2. Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care. Developing a safety and quality framework for Australia. Sydney: ACSQHC, 2009.
  • 3. Kelman S, Friedman J. Performance improvement and performance dysfunction: an empirical examination of impacts of the emergency room wait-time target in the English National Health Service. Cambridge, Mass.: John F Kennedy School of Government, Harvard, 2007.
  • 4. Bridgewater B, Grayson AD, Brooks N, et al. Has the publication of cardiac surgery outcome data been associated with changes in practice in northwest England: an analysis of 25 730 patients undergoing CABG surgery under 30 surgeons over eight years. Heart 2007; 93: 744-748.
  • 5. Duckett S, Collins J, Kamp M, Walker K. An improvement focus in public reporting: the Queensland approach. Med J Aust 2008; 189: 616-617. <MJA full text>

Author

remove_circle_outline Delete Author
add_circle_outline Add Author

Comment
Do you have any competing interests to declare? *

I/we agree to assign copyright to the Medical Journal of Australia and agree to the Conditions of publication *
I/we agree to the Terms of use of the Medical Journal of Australia *
Email me when people comment on this article

Online responses are no longer available. Please refer to our instructions for authors page for more information.