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Australian Health Review Australian Health Review Society
Journal of the Australian Healthcare & Hospitals Association
RESEARCH ARTICLE

Towards a strategy for clinical quality registries in Australia

Susannah Ahern A B , Sue Evans A , Ingrid Hopper A and John Zalcberg A
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations

A School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, Monash University, 553 St Kilda Road, Melbourne, Vic. 3004, Australia. Email: susan.evans@monash.edu; ingrid.hopper@monash.edu; john.zalcberg@monash.edu

B Corresponding author. Email: susannah.ahern@monash.edu

Australian Health Review 43(3) 284-287 https://doi.org/10.1071/AH17201
Submitted: 20 August 2017  Accepted: 13 December 2017   Published: 8 February 2018

Abstract

The healthcare value of Australian clinical quality registries (CQRs) has recently been highlighted by the Australian Commission of Safety and Quality in Health Care (ACSQHC) as being similar to the benefits of CQRs reported internationally. However, the development of CQRs in Australia is currently limited by a lack of coordination and strategic planning, leading to governance and funding processes that are varied and non-sustainable. Despite this, Australia has achieved recognised success with exemplar clinical registries where funding has been sustained at least partly by public funds. To this end, Australia can learn from international CQR governance and funding models to support CQR sustainability, most notably those from European and Scandinavian countries. Further, following the release of the ACSQHC’s prioritised domains for CQRs and anticipated funding from the Medical Research Future Fund, the ACSQHC is well positioned to lead a national strategic approach for clinical registries. Together with medical leadership and engagement, operational and data management support from the jurisdictions and financial support from both the public and private sectors, a prioritised and coordinated approach may soon become a reality.

Additional keywords: cost-effectiveness, ethics, funding, governance, health data, quality improvement, safety and quality.


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