Demographics overview

Only those patients who meet the required Indigenous status, record status, patient status, age, or address are included in the reporting for supported encounter modes and contact types.

Indigenous status

National Key Performance Indicator reporting almost exclusively reports on patients who are recorded as being Indigenous. In Communicare this means that they have an Indigenous Status recorded in their biographics of one of the following:
  • Aboriginal but not Torres Strait Islander
  • Torres Strait Islander but not Aboriginal
  • Both Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander

Any exceptions are stated in the definition for that specific indicator.

OSR reporting is disaggregated by Indigenous Status. In these reports the following mapping is done:
  • Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander - includes all patients with one of the above statuses recorded in their biographics.
  • Non-Aboriginal - any patient with an Indigenous Status of Neither Aboriginal nor Torres Strait
  • Not Recorded - any patient where the Indigenous Status is not recorded, or the Indigenous Status is Not stated/inadequately described or Not applicable.
Note: For OSR reporting, fictitious patients are excluded. Patients who died before the end of the reporting period are counted if they had any activity during the report period. Non-patient records are included to record group activity and contacts made with patients who do not normally attend this health service. For the purposes of disaggregation by Indigenous Status, all non-patients are recorded as Not Recorded.

Record status

For the AIHW definition of a Regular Client this status is determined by looking at the contacts made with a patient in the two years preceding the end of the report period. In Communicare, a patient's status must be one of the following:
  • Current
  • Transient
  • Past
  • Banned 30 days
  • Banned 60 days

Patients who have a Communicare patient status of Fictitious (either at the time the report is run or at the end of the report period) are excluded. Patients who had a Communicare patient status of Non-Patient at the end of the report period are also excluded.

Only services that have started are included: services with a status of Started, Paused or Finished are included. Services with the following statuses are excluded:
  • Booked
  • Cancelled
  • Waiting
  • Withdrawn
Additionally, services with the following modes are excluded:
  • All no client contact modes
  • Administration – client contact

If a patient has at least three such services in the two years preceding the end of the report period and they were still alive at the end of the report period, then they are deemed to be a regular client. However, see the comments in the Residence section below relating to the patient’s home address at the end of the report period and how this relates to use of the Locality Group parameter in Communicare reports.

OSR reporting does not use the Regular Client status. All patient records are included except Fictitious patient records. Non-patient records are included but reported with an Indigenous Status of Not Recorded.

Patient status

For nKPI reporting, all patients with a status of Non-Patient are excluded even if they have three visits in the previous two years.

For OSR reporting, the Non-Patient status is treated in the following way:
  • If the patient record has an MRN of #GROUP, group activity will be counted but not in the contacts, episodes or individuals reports.
  • If the patient record has an MRN of #ANON, any activity is disregarded. This means that the patient record is for anonymous activity and any age, sex or Indigenous status will be unknown so the data cannot be disaggregated.
  • If the patient record does not have an MRN of either #ANON or #GROUP, activity will also be disregarded.
To assist in the identification of any existing Non-Patient records where the addition of either #ANON or #GROUP is needed, refer to the report at Report > OSR > Non-Patient Analysis.This report should eventually report three main sections (if anonymous or group activity is recorded at the health service):
  • Group activity record: an example is UNIDENTIFIED CLIENTS. If the patient ID has an asterisk, this is currently being used for group activity.
  • Anonymous patient record: examples might be NEEDLE EXCHANGE, MALE or WALKIN, UNKNOWN.
  • Other non-patient records: these should all be real people but who only attend the health service for specific purposes other than their main health care, such as, dental only patients or ITC patients referred from a private GP for supplementary services. If they should be included in the nKPI reports and the OSR reports, their status must be changed from non-patient.
Tip:
Only use the Non-Patient status for the following reasons:
  • To record biographic details of a carer who is responsible for a patient of the health service but who does not attend for their own health care
  • To record a real patient who may attend the health service for a single purpose, such as a dental clinic, but who belongs to another health service and does not require any other health service delivery, such as health check reminders, blood tests, chronic disease management, and so on.
  • To record anonymous services such as group information sessions, anonymous needle exchange, health promotion events, and so on.

Residence

A patient must have had a home address at the end of the report period. What this means is that a patient added after the end of the report period will not be included even if they have backdated service activity.

When the Locality Group filter is used for any of the Communicare reports the patient list is filtered to those patients whose home address locality at the end of the report period was within the defined list of localities that make up that locality group. It is important that the locality groups defined at the health service are accurate and inclusive. To help you review your locality groups run the following reports:
  • To print a list of all localities within all locality groups, run Report > Reference Tables > Locality Groups. Maintenance to these lists is done at File > Reference Tables > Locality Groups.
  • To look for omissions and mistakes, run Report > Reference Tables > Locality Group Analysis.
    Tip: Run this report with a range of post codes that covers your health service area completely.
    Example values for the Locality Group Analysis report
    The resulting report will show all locality groups and indicate which localities belong to multiple or no such groups. Maintenance to these lists is done at File > Reference Tables > Locality Groups.

Age groups

The default nKPI age groups are:
  • 0-4 years
  • 5-14 years
  • 15-24 years
  • 25-34 years
  • 35-44 years
  • 45-54 years
  • 55-64 years
  • 65+ years

Where stated in a specific indicator these may vary. For example, child immunisation age groups differ as do antenatal care age groups.

Age is calculated at the end of the report period (unless a specific indicator states otherwise). Patients who died during the preceding two years but who have had three valid services recorded will be excluded.

Contact types

OSR reporting requires disaggregation of provider types when reporting on contacts. In Communicare, a provider type is in recorded in Communicare in the Provider reference table: in File > Providers, select the provider type from the Speciality list.
Example Provider specialty

For information about how the Communicare speciality is mapped to the OSR contacts report, see Client Contact Types reference

Note: Services provided exclusively by a Transport Worker (as recorded in Communicare in the Provider reference table) are excluded from the OSR Episodes of Health Care report.

Encounter modes

Services recorded for most encounter modes where there is patient contact are included in nKPI and OSR reports.

Table 1. Encounter modes
Encounter Mode Consultation Delivery Description Included in reports Automated patient status updates?
Aboriginal Health Service In person Use to record a clinical consultation where the patient attended the clinic. nKPI and OSR Yes
Administration - client contact Administrative - in person Use to record that although the health service has seen the patient it was not for a clinical reason. None Yes
Administration - no client contact None Use to record administrative work for a patient. None No
Clinical administration – client contact Administrative - in person Client contact that is more clinically focused than Administration - client contact. nKPI and OSR
Note: Inclusion in reports may be affected by provider type.
 Yes
Clinical administration – no client contact None Clinical administration, for example:
  • Updating clinical history - allergies, past medical, surgical. Gynae history, family and social history
  • Referrals – child health, dietitian, allied health, social work, GP, OT, exercise physiologist, pharmacist
  • Applications – My Aged Care, MASS, Centrelink, Lions Club equipment
  • Immunisations – history, data entry, documentation verification
  • Pathology – follow up and organising treatment
  • Notifications – schools, GP, hospital, discharge planners
  • Discharge planning
 None No
Client's Home In person Use to record where workers from the health service deliver services at the client's home. Use instead of creating a separate encounter place for each client. nKPI and OSR Yes
Clinic - Consult In person Use to record a clinical consultation where the patient attended the clinic. nKPI and OSR Yes
Commercial setting (eg pharmacy) In person Use to record where workers from the health service deliver services at a business such as a pharmacy. Use instead of creating a separate encounter place for each business. nKPI and OSR Yes
Community Health Centre In person Use at community health centres to record a clinical consultation where the patient attended the health service. nKPI and OSR Yes
Community Services Centre In person Use to record where workers from the health service deliver services at a Community Services Centre. Use instead of creating a separate encounter place for each centre. nKPI and OSR Yes
Contact Attempt Unsuccessful - no client contact None Use to record attempted contact. None No
Court In person Use to record where workers from the health service deliver services at court. Use instead of creating a separate encounter place for each court. nKPI and OSR Yes
Day Aged Care Centre In person Use to record where workers from the health service deliver services at a day aged care centre. Use instead of creating a separate encounter place for each centre. nKPI and OSR Yes
Day Procedure Centre (Free-standing) In person Use at day procedure centres to record a clinical consultation where the patient attended the centre. nKPI and OSR Yes
Dental Room In person Use to record a clinical consultation where the patient attended a consulation in the dental room. nKPI and OSR Yes
Dispensary - no client contact None Use to record dispensary work for a patient. None No
Drug and Alcohol Agency In person Use at drug and alcohol agencies to record a clinical consultation where the patient attended the health service. nKPI and OSR Yes
Health Care Practitioner Office (any discipline) In person Use to record a clinical consultation for a health care practitioner that does not fit any other category. nKPI and OSR Yes
Health Service In person Use for non-indigenous health services to record a clinical consultation where the patient attended the health service. nKPI and OSR Yes
Hospital - All types In person Use in hospitals to record a clinical consultation where the patient attended the hospital. nKPI and OSR Yes
Hospital - Emergency Department In person Use in hospital EDs to record a clinical consultation where the patient attended the ED. nKPI and OSR Yes
Hospital - General Practice In person Use in hospital-based general practices to record a clinical consultation where the patient attended the practice. nKPI and OSR Yes
Hostel In person Use to record where workers from the health service deliver services at a hostel. Use instead of creating a separate encounter place for each hostel. nKPI and OSR Yes
Inreach In person Use to record inreach consultations. nKPI and OSR Yes
Mobile Clinic In person Use to record where workers from the health service go out in a mobile clinic to deliver services. Use instead of creating a separate encounter place. nKPI and OSR Yes
Nursing Home In person Use to record where workers from the health service deliver services at a nursing home. Use instead of creating a separate encounter place for each centre. nKPI and OSR Yes
Other In person Use to record where workers from the health service deliver services at a service encounter or physical place that is not otherwise described, read "Other means" or "Other service delivery mode". nKPI and OSR Yes
Outreach In person Use to record where workers from the health service go out into the community to deliver services. Use instead of creating a separate encounter place. nKPI and OSR Yes
Prison In person Use to record where workers from the health service deliver services at a prison. Use instead of creating a separate encounter place for each prison. nKPI and OSR Yes
Renal Dialysis Centre (Free-standing) In person Use to record where workers from the health service deliver services at a freestanding renal dialysis centre. Use instead of creating a separate encounter place for each centre. nKPI and OSR Yes
Respite Care Facility (non-Hostel or Nursing Home) In person Use to record where workers from the health service deliver services at a respite care facility. Use instead of creating a separate encounter place for each facility. nKPI and OSR Yes
School In person Use to record where workers from the health service go to a school to deliver services. Use instead of creating a separate encounter place for each school or youth club. nKPI and OSR Yes
Supported residential accommodation In person Use to record where workers from the health service deliver services at supported residential accommodation. Use instead of creating a separate encounter place for each centre. nKPI and OSR Yes
Telehealth Video Video conferencing Use to record services where the contact between the Communicare provider and the patient was using video conferencing. nKPI and OSR Yes
Telehealth - Provider Telephone or by another device such as a computer, with or without video Use to record remote telehealth consultations during the COVID-19 pandemic. nKPI and OSR Yes
Telehealth - Recipient Facilitator only Use where a consultation happened between a provider elsewhere and a patient, such as between a specialist and patient at a hospital, and the Communicare provider only facilitated the contact by providing a room and remote conferencing equipment. nKPI and OSR Yes
Telephone Telephone Use to record a clinical consultation performed over the telephone between the Communicare provider and the patient. nKPI and OSR Yes
The following services are generally excluded:
  • Any no client contact service.
  • The contact service of Administration - client contact.
  • Waiting, Booked or Cancelled services.
  • Services provided by providers with a speciality of transport worker.
  • Services recorded using the Transport module.
  • Services recorded for fictitious clients.