National outpatient care database (NOCD)
- The NOCD is compiled from data supplied by the state and territory health authorities. It is a collection of electronic records for selected public hospitals within Australia. All records are based on information collected for financial years. Data is held for the years 2005-06 to 2009-10.
- These data were provided as counts of individual occasions of service and groups sessions for 24 types of outpatient clinics.
- The National health data dictionary version 14 definitions form the basis of the database, ensuring a high standard of data comparability.
Main data elements included in the NOCD
The data elements listed below form part of the National Minimum Data Set for Outpatient care.
- Clinic type
- Occasions of service
- Group sessions
Please see METeOR Outpatient care National Minimum Dataset (NMDS) http://meteor.aihw.gov.au/content/index.phtml/itemId/336862 for data set specification.
The scope of this NMDS is for services provided to non-admitted, non-emergency department, patients registered for care by specialist outpatient clinics of public hospitals that are classified as either principal referral and specialist women's and children's hospitals and large hospitals (Peer Group A or B) as reported in the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare's Australian hospital statistics publication from the preceding financial year.
Publications
The annual Australian hospital statistics reports on hospital activity and operations have included analyses of the majority of the data elements included in this collection since 2005-06.
Chapter 6 Outpatient care, presents information on outpatient services and other non-admitted, non-emergency patient services provided by public hospitals in Australia.
Earlier summary data on non-admitted care based on the data reported for the Public Hospitals Establishment National Minimum Dataset were reported in the chapters describing Australia's public hospitals.
Example of data from the NOCD
Table 6.3: Outpatient care individual occasions of services(a), by outpatient clinic-type, states and territories, 2009-10
(pg 122, Australian hospital statistics 2009-10).
| Clinic type |
NSW |
Vic |
Qld |
WA |
SA |
Tas(b) |
ACT |
NT |
Total |
| Allied health |
556,971 |
804,649 |
525,606 |
503,695 |
170,876 |
77,632 |
29,709 |
10,431 |
2,679,569 |
| Dental |
188,712 |
181,622 |
0 |
4,823 |
8,941 |
2,500 |
0 |
0 |
386,598 |
| Gynaecology |
53,984 |
44,689 |
67,365 |
23,434 |
36,392 |
8,091 |
5,117 |
6,405 |
245,477 |
| Obstetrics |
873,865 |
324,950 |
386,475 |
112,303 |
120,295 |
46,590 |
59,354 |
24,872 |
1,948,704 |
| Cardiology |
66,753 |
22,880 |
82,462 |
34,288 |
24,918 |
34,019 |
12,299 |
2,248 |
279,867 |
| Endocrinology |
168,039 |
52,057 |
67,749 |
31,440 |
31,343 |
15,679 |
12,491 |
370 |
379,168 |
| Oncology |
317,352 |
120,695 |
90,317 |
64,310 |
12,097 |
26,871 |
15,083 |
1,750 |
648,475 |
| Respiratory |
160,427 |
14,114 |
56,030 |
18,722 |
30,289 |
4,587 |
5,351 |
1,403 |
290,923 |
| Gastroenterology |
37,050 |
23,737 |
35,312 |
13,813 |
19,511 |
1,689 |
6,191 |
1,074 |
138,377 |
| Medical |
1,110,871 |
225,149 |
334,238 |
264,571 |
115,780 |
44,009 |
32,043 |
20,785 |
2,147,446 |
| General practice/primary care |
203,005 |
157 |
28,801 |
694 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
232,657 |
| Paediatric |
105,879 |
9,843 |
48,404 |
10,048 |
29,473 |
20,005 |
7,267 |
7,099 |
238,018 |
| Endoscopy |
16,635 |
0 |
10,981 |
1 |
16,459 |
824 |
2,602 |
701 |
48,203 |
| Plastic surgery |
35,504 |
73,806 |
32,603 |
41,687 |
27,068 |
5,421 |
5,792 |
1,347 |
223,228 |
| Urology |
25,366 |
44,306 |
47,273 |
18,516 |
13,280 |
1,928 |
1,725 |
414 |
152,808 |
| Orthopaedic |
224,839 |
202,347 |
279,768 |
87,952 |
63,818 |
22,513 |
14,915 |
13,070 |
909,222 |
| Ophthalmology |
141,342 |
95,278 |
78,310 |
54,567 |
61,629 |
6,500 |
8,050 |
13,396 |
459,072 |
| Ear, nose and throat surgery |
35,139 |
39,267 |
46,653 |
24,315 |
21,180 |
2,192 |
3,045 |
3,959 |
175,750 |
| Pre-admission and pre-anaesthesia |
190,314 |
91,455 |
149,499 |
28,724 |
44,401 |
12,273 |
7,554 |
7,940 |
532,160 |
| Chemotherapy |
81,508 |
0 |
2,978 |
598 |
21,680 |
5,647 |
8,959 |
1,905 |
123,275 |
| Dialysis |
49,303 |
0 |
0 |
2,427 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
3,821 |
55,551 |
| Surgery |
95,686 |
141,311 |
143,931 |
48,931 |
78,003 |
23,119 |
8,610 |
16,205 |
555,796 |
| Paediatric surgery |
9,839 |
22,389 |
7,289 |
285 |
3,432 |
0 |
1,611 |
0 |
44,845 |
| Renal medicine |
144,261 |
0 |
63,017 |
0 |
12,751 |
1,205 |
6,340 |
0 |
227,574 |
| Total |
4,892,644 |
2,534,701 |
2,585,061 |
1,390,144 |
963,616 |
363,294 |
254,108 |
139,195 |
13,122,763 |
- There were variations among jurisdictions in the reporting of occasions of service because of differences in admission practices and in the types of facilities offering these services.
- Tasmania was not able to provide data for one hospital that reported 140,000 occasions of service to the NOCD in 2008-09.
Source: National Outpatient Care Database.
For more examples of data from NOCD go to Australia's hospitals 2009-10 at a glance or Chapter 6 of Australian hospital statistics 2009-10.
Additional information and limitations
- The actual definitions used by the data providers may vary from year to year and between jurisdictions and sectors. Comparisons between the states and territories, reporting years and hospital sectors should be therefore made with caution.
- All states and territories also provided hospital-level data on outpatient clinic occasions of service for the NHPED. These data have wider coverage than data provided for the NOCD, as detailed in Australian hospital statistics 2009-10 (Chapter 6).