The purpose of the Admitted patient care national minimum data set (APC NMDS) is to collect information about care provided to admitted patients in Australian hospitals.
The scope of the APC NMDS is episodes of care for admitted patients in all public and private acute and psychiatric hospitals, free standing day hospital facilities and alcohol and drug treatment centres in Australia. Hospitals operated by the Australian Defence Force, corrections authorities and in Australia's off-shore territories may also be included. Hospitals specialising in dental, ophthalmic aids and other specialised acute medical or surgical care are included.
Hospital boarders and still births are not included as they are not admitted to hospital. Posthumous organ procurement episodes are also not included.
Collection and usage attributes
Statistical unit:
Episodes of care for admitted patients
Collection methods:
Data are collected at each hospital from patient administrative and clinical record systems. Hospitals forward data to the relevant state or territory health authority on a regular basis (e.g., monthly).
National reporting arrangements
State and territory health authorities provide the data to the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare for national collation, on an annual basis.
Periods for which data are collected and nationally collated
Financial years ending 30 June each year.
Implementation start date:
01/07/2016
Implementation end date:
30/06/2017
Comments:
Note that the Admitted patient care (APC) NMDS, the Admitted patient mental health care (APMHC) NMDS and the Admitted patient palliative care (APPC) NMDS have been amalgamated into the Admitted patient care NMDS 2016-17. As a result, a number of data elements have been assigned a ‘Conditional’ status, indicating that the data element is not supplied in all circumstances.
The table below shows the origin of the data elements and the conditional information obligation in the APC NMDS 2016-17.
Amalagamated data elements in Admitted patient care NMDS 2016-17
Data element
Original NMDS
Conditional obligation information in the APC NMDS 2016-17
Episode of admitted patient care (mental health care)—referral destination, code N
APMHC NMDS
For specialised mental health care patients only
Patient—previous specialised treatment, code N
APMHC NMDS and APPC NMDS
For mental health care patients and palliative care patients only.
Person—accommodation type (prior to admission), code N
APMHC NMDS
For specialised mental health care patients only.
Person—accommodation type (usual), code N[N]
APMHC NMDS
For specialised mental health care patients only.
Person—labour force status, acute hospital and private psychiatric hospital admission code N
APMHC NMDS
For specialised mental health care patients only.
Person—labour force status, public psychiatric hospital admission code N
APMHC NMDS
For specialised mental health care patients only.
Person—marital status, code N
APMHC NMDS
For specialised mental health care patients only.
Glossary items
Glossary terms that are relevant to this National minimum data set are included here.