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Data definitions for auditing

These data definitions should be used for auditing to ensure consistency of data.

Healthcare Worker Type Categories

Healthcare Worker Codes

Type of Healthcare worker

Extended Definition

N

Nurse/Midwife

All nurses – RN, Div 1, Div 2/EN, Midwives, Agency Staff, Domiciliary nurses, Psychiatric

DR

Medical Practitioner

All doctors – Consultants, Registrars, Residents, Interns, Visiting Consultants, GPs

PC

Personal Care Staff

PSA, AIN, PCW, wardsman, orderly, warders, ward/nursing assistants

AH

Allied Health Care Worker 

Physiotherapists, Occupational therapists, Dieticians, Speech Pathologists, Radiographers, Pharmacists, P&O, Allied Health Assistants, Podiatrists, Music/Play therapists, Audiologists, Plaster technicians, ECG technicians

AC

Administrative and Clerical Staff

Ward clerks, admissions officers

BL

Invasive Technician 

Phlebotomists, Dialysis technicians

D

Domestic

Staff engaged in the provision of food and cleaning services, maintenance people

SDR

Student Doctor

 

SN

Student Nurse/Midwife

 

SAH

Student Allied Health

 

SPC

Student Personal Care

 

O

Other 

Persons not categorised elsewhere

AMB

Ambulance

Ambulance workers, patient transport

DO

Dentist

All dentists, specialist dentists

DT

Dental Therapists

Dental therapists, dental hygienist, dental prosthetist, oral health therapists

DA

Dental Assistant

Dental assistant, dental nurse

DL

Dental Technicians

Dental technician, laboratory staff (no patient contact)

SDO

Student Dentist

 

SDT

Student Dental Therapists

 

SDA

Student Dental Assistant/Dental Nurse

 

SDL

Student Dental Technicians/Laboratory staff (no patient contact)

 

 

Department Type Categories

Department Type

Further Definitions

Acute Aged Care

Unit providing predominantly acute geriatric medical care

Ambulatory Care

Out-patient clinic/treatment

Critical Care Unit

Includes Coronary Care, Adult and Paediatric Intensive Care Units, High Dependency Unit

Dental

 

Emergency Department

Purposely designed and equipped area with designated assessment, treatment and resuscitation areas.
Ability to provide resuscitation, stabilisation and initial management of all emergencies.
Availability of medical staff in the hospital 24 hours a day.
Designated emergency department nursing staff 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and a designated emergency department nursing unit manager.

Emergency Services

 

Long-term Care

Includes residential care for adults and children, and transition wards for  patients awaiting long-term care placement

Maternity

Delivery suite, maternity ward

Medical

Includes dermatology, neurology, respiratory etc

Mental Health

 

Mixed

 

Neonatal Care

 Includes Neonatal Intensive Care Unit and Special Care Nursery

Oncology/Haematology Unit

Includes Day Oncology

Other

If not defined within the other categories

Paediatrics

Children’s Wards of Non-paediatric hospitals

Palliative

 

Peri-operative

Includes pre-operative units, theatre and recovery/post-anaesthesia care unit

Radiology/Radiation Oncology

Medical imaging, including nuclear medicine and interventional radiology units, radiation oncology

Renal

Includes dialysis

Sub Acute

Includes rehab, geriatric evaluation and management

Surgical

General and specialty surgical wards, including orthopaedics, neurosurgery, urology, ENT, opthalmology etc

Transplantation Unit

 

Public Peer Group Categories – Post 2015

Peer group name

Definition

Principal referral hospitals

Principal referral hospitals are public acute hospitals that provide a very broad range of services, have a range of highly specialised service units, and have very large patient volumes. The term ‘referral’ recognises that these hospitals have specialist facilities not typically found in smaller hospitals.

Group A hospitals

Public acute group A hospitals are public acute hospitals that provide a wide range of services typically including a 24-hour emergency department, intensive care unit, coronary care unit and oncology unit, but do not provide the breadth of services provided by Principal referral hospitals.

Private acute group A hospitals are private acute hospitals that have a 24-hour emergency department and an intensive care unit, and provide a number of other specialised services such as coronary care, special care nursery, cardiac surgery and neurosurgery.

Group B hospitals

Public acute group B hospitals are those public acute hospitals that do not have the service profile of the Principal referral hospitals and Group A hospitals, but do have a 24-hour emergency department; they typically provide elective surgery and have specialised service units such as obstetric, paediatric and psychiatric units.

Private acute group B hospitals are private acute hospitals that do not have a 24-hour emergency department, but do have an intensive care unit and a number of other specialised services including coronary care, special care nursery, cardiac surgery and neurosurgery

Group C hospitals

Public acute group C hospitals include those public acute hospitals that provide a more limited range of services than Principal referral hospitals or Public acute group A and B hospitals, but do have an obstetric unit, provide surgical services and/or some form of emergency facility (emergency department, or accident and emergency service).

Private acute group C hospitals are those private acute hospitals that do not provide emergency department services or have an intensive care unit, but do provide specialised services in a range of clinical specialities.

Group D hospitals

Public acute group D hospitals are acute public hospitals that offer a smaller range of services relative to the other public acute hospital groups, and provide 200 or more separations per year. They are mostly situated in regional and remote areas. 

Private acute group C hospitals are those private acute hospitals that do not provide emergency department services or have an intensive care unit, but do provide specialised services in a range of clinical specialities.

Very small hospitals

Very small hospitals have few beds and provide care for few admitted patients. Most do not perform surgery.

Children's hospitals

Children’s hospitals which specialise in the treatment and care of children

Women's hospitals

Women’s hospitals which specialise in the treatment of women

Other women's and children's hospitals

Combined women’s and children’s hospitals which specialise in the treatment of both women and children.

Acute psychiatric hospitals

Acute hospitals that specialise in providing mental health services for people with a mental disorder or psychiatric disability, including some that primarily provide mental health services for specific population groups.

Other acute specialised hospitals

Other acute specialised hospitals are hospitals that specialise in a particular form of acute care, not grouped elsewhere.

Rehabilitation hospitals

Rehabilitation hospitals are hospitals that primarily provide rehabilitation and/or geriatric evaluation and management.

Mixed sub- and non-acute hospitals

Mixed sub- and non-acute hospitals primarily provide a mixture of subacute (rehabilitation, palliative care, geriatric evaluation and management, psychogeriatric care) and non-acute (maintenance) care

Dialysis clinics

Dialysis clinics are hospitals that specialise in providing dialysis treatment on a same day basis.

Endoscopy centres

Endoscopy centres are hospitals that specialise in providing endoscopic procedures on a same day basis.

Eye surgery clinic

Eye surgery centres are hospitals that specialise in providing eye surgery on a same day basis.

Haematology & oncology clinics

Haematology and oncology clinics are hospitals that specialise in providing medical care on a same day basis for cancer patients and/or patients with blood disorders.

Mixed day procedure hospitals

Mixed day procedure hospitals are day hospitals that do not meet the service profile of any specialised day hospital peer groups described above and Other specialist day hospitals (see Other specialist day hospitals section below). Rather than having a strong focus on one specialised clinical area, these hospitals typically provide a variety of specialised services on a same day basis

Oral & maxillofacial procedure centres

Oral and maxillofacial surgery centres are hospitals that specialise in providing treatment of oral and maxillofacial diseases and disorders on a same day basis.

Plastic & reconstructive surgery clinics

Plastic and reconstructive surgery centres are hospitals that specialise in providing reconstructive and plastic surgery on a same day basis.

Reproductive health centres

Reproductive health centres are hospitals that specialise in providing abortion services on a same day basis.

Unpeered hospitals

Unpeered hospitals are those hospitals with unique characteristics that could not be assigned to one of the peer groups.

Pending

Awaiting allocation to peer group from AIHW.

 Public Peer Group Categories – Pre 2015

Principal referral and specialist women's and children's

A1

Major city hospitals with >20,000 acute casemix adjusted separations and Regional hospitals with >16,000 acute casemix-adjusted separations per annum

 

A2

Specialised acute women’s and children’s hospitals with >10,000 acute casemix-adjusted separations per annum

Large hospitals

B1

Major city acute hospitals treating more than 10,000 acute casemix-adjusted separations per annum

 

B2

Regional acute hospitals treating >8,000 acute casemix adjusted separations per annum, and remote hospitals with >5,000 casemix-adjusted separations

Medium hospitals

C1

Medium acute hospitals in Regional and Major city areas treating between 5,000 and 10,000 acute casemix-adjusted separations per annum

 

C2

Medium acute hospitals in Regional and Major city areas treating between 2,000 and 5,000 acute casemix adjusted separations per annum, and acute hospitals treating <2,000 casemix-adjusted separations per annum but with >2,000 separations per annum

Small acute hospitals

D1

Small Regional acute hospitals (mainly small country town hospitals), acute hospitals treating <2,000 separations per annum, and with less than 40% nonacute and outlier patient days of total patient days

Small acute hospitals

D3

Small remote hospitals (<5,000 acute casemix-adjusted separations but not 'Multipurpose services' and not 'Small non-acute'. Most are <2,000 separations

Small sub-acute and non-acute hospitals

D2

E2

G

Small non-acute hospitals, treating <2,000 separations per annum, and with more than 40% non-acute and outlier patient days of total patient days (D2) plus Multipurpose service (E2) – Small sub-acute and non-acute hospitals (G)

Private Peer Groups

Group Number of beds
PPG 1 >400 acute inpatient beds
PPG 2 301-400 acute inpatient beds
PPG 3 201-300 acute inpatient beds
PPG 4 151-200 acute inpatient beds
PPG 5 101-150 acute inpatient beds
PPG 6 51-100 acute inpatient beds
PPG 7 <51 acute inpatient beds

Day Hospital Definitions

Size Number of procedures
Large Stand alone facility performing >5,000 procedures per annum
Medium Stand alone facility performing 2,000 -5,000 procedures per annum
Small Stand alone facility performing <2,000 procedures per annum

Dialysis/Oncology Definitions

Size Number of procedures
Large Stand alone facility performing >5,000 procedures per annum
Small Stand alone facility performing <5,000 procedures per annum
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