title: Developing a linked administrative database of health service utilisation by the aging population of metropolitan Perth.
abstract: The increasing use of health services by the older population has placed significant stresses on the health system of Western Australia. This is a report of the development of a linked administrative database of health resource utilisation by the aged population of metropolitan Perth. Hospital administrative databases linked to clinical or administrative databases of other health providers are reviewed. Length of stay data is linked to aged care assessments, referrals to nursing homes and community services. The linked databases approach allows the study of resource allocation and can pinpoint systemic stress in aged care. It is a tool for reducing the duplication of services, the pressure on beds in health institutions, and cost by improving efficiencies.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine University of Western Australia (UWA) at Royal Perth Hospital (RPH).
authors.forename: P K
authors.initials: PK
authors.lastname: Loh
authors.forename: Jenny
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Stevens
authors.forename: Mark
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Donaldson
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D016208:Databases, Factual; D006233:Persons with Disabilities; D006302:Health Services Research; D006299:Health Services for the Aged / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006786:Hospitals, Urban / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D016247:Information Storage and Retrieval; D007902:Length of Stay / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D008498:Medical Record Linkage; D016347:Medical Records Systems, Computerized; D020380:Needs Assessment; D011157:Population Dynamics; D040841:Resource Allocation; D014904:Western Australia / Q000453:epidemiology