Getting Serious about the Evaluation of Health Services — The Need for Data Linkage in the Measurement of Health Outcomes

Abstract

In the past two decades there has been a growth in the establishment of large health databases and the development of sophisticated analytic techniques. This has led to concern about a potential conflict between the privacy rights of individuals over access to health information, and the requirements of population health research conducted in the public interest. There is an increasing demand for valid measures of the outcomes of health services. Inability to follow individuals as they pass through the health care system seriously restricts the ability to evaluate outcomes. Though Australian experience is limited, overseas studies have demonstrated the benefit to service evaluation of linking health data collections. It is concluded that the ability to link disparate sources of health information is essential for measuring and evaluating the outcomes of health services. Given appropriate provisions for data security, this linkage is feasible.

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