The Victorian Agency for Health Information’s mission is to deliver trusted information to inform better decisions that improve the health and wellbeing of Victorians.
To achieve this mission, VAHI produces a range of reports on health service performance, quality and safety.
The Victorian health services performance monitoring framework outlines the Government’s approach to overseeing the performance of Victorian health services, including VAHI’s responsibilities.
Executive oversight
Monitor
Public health services each have a Statement of Priorities, which is their agreement with the Minister for Health on key performance expectations, targets and funding for the financial year.
Performance against the measures agreed in the Statement of Priorities is reported in Monitor. Monitor is produced monthly to show health service CEOs how they are tracking. A quarterly edition is sent to health service Boards. An annual Monitor report is also sent to CEOs and Boards.
Responsibility for Monitor moved from the Department of Health and Human Services when VAHI was established.
Program Report for Integrated Service Monitoring (PRISM)
PRISM includes a broad set of measures on health service activity and performance. It supports Monitor by providing further context and allows health services to benchmark against similar health services.
PRISM is distributed to CEOs and Boards quarterly. An annual PRISM report is also distributed.
Responsibility for PRISM moved from the Department of Health and Human Services when VAHI was established.
Board safety and quality report
VAHI developed the Board safety and quality report for board members to get information about the quality and safety performance of their health service, including how their results compare with similar health services.
The Board safety and quality report is distributed quarterly to health service boards.
Quality and safety in Victorian private hospitals
The Quality and safety in Victorian private hospitals report is released biannually to private hospital executives.
The report is designed in line with recommendations from Targeting zero, aiming to support quality and safety improvements in private hospitals by enhancing access to high quality information.
Clinicians
Inspire: Mental health
Inspire: Mental health is a biannual report provided to senior mental health clinicians and executives.
The purpose of the report is to provide information to support conversations on quality and safety performance within the mental health sector.
The Chief Psychiatrist provides clinician-focused information throughout the report, referring readers to relevant resources and providing practical advice on how to manage specific issues.
Public reporting
Victorian Health Services Performance
Victorian Health Services Performance data aims to provide Victorians with an accurate picture about the performance of health services in their local area. The website provides greater transparency and a better understanding of Victoria’s public hospital, health service and ambulance service performance.
The data is accessible via the VAHI portal, allowing the public to search and view reports on patients treated, emergency care, elective surgery, mental health, specialist clinics, dental care, ambulance services, and quality, safety and patient experience.
VAHI updates the VAHI portal with Victorian Health Services Performance data every quarter.
Patient experience of care
VAHI has an objective to provide Victorians with an accurate picture of health services in their area. The agency’s first public report Adult experiences of care in public hospitals – 2016 was released in February 2018. The report includes information on different aspects of patient experiences and is based on responses from the Victorian Healthcare Experience Survey.
Specialist investigations
VAHI will sometimes be required to carry out specialist investigations when a specific issue has been found in the health system.
VAHI published findings from an independent review into elective surgery waiting lists after an administrative error was identified in 2016. The findings are available at Elective surgery waiting lists: a rapid review to ensure full transparency.
Improving VAHI's reporting suite
From March to July 2018, the Victorian Agency for Health Information (VAHI) undertook consultations seeking feedback on the existing suite of reporting products and the quality and safety measures they contain. Feedback was received from health services and consumers, as well as Safer Care Victoria and the Department of Health and Human Services. This report provides background on the consultation and summarises the feedback.
The findings are available at Summary of feedback from consultations.