Health
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Hospital Circular 14/2001

Date Issued: 9 July 2001

Publication: 14/2001

Distribution: Public Hospitals

Subjects: AIMS Reporting

Purpose: To provide details of changes in AIMS reporting for 2001-2002

This Circular provides details of changes in the Agency Information Management System (AIMS) reporting requirements for the period from July 2001. The most significant change this year is replacement of the existing AIMS data collection facilities (AIMS Agency Module) with an Internet based system to be known as the AIMS Online Entry System.

This document provides information on the AIMS Online Entry System and includes information on changes to the AIMS data collections effective from July 2001. The Circular should be read in conjunction with other reporting guidelines released separately from different business units of the Aged Community and Mental Health (ACMH) Division, and copies of AIMS data collection returns located on the AIMS website.

References to the ACMH reporting guidelines are documented later in this Circular and will be included on the AIMS website.

The electronic AIMS Public Hospital User Manual will be updated to include changes detailed in this document and the Aged Community and Mental Health Division documents within the next few weeks. Agencies will be notified as new information is included on the AIMS website.

AIMS Online Entry System

This Circular supplements information contained in a letter on Redevelopment of AIMS Data Collection Systems sent to chief executive officer's of public hospitals on 30 April 2001. (A copy of this document is located on the AIMS website.)

Redevelopment of AIMS as an online system will provide significant benefits to both agencies and the Department. Until now the collection of AIMS data has entailed distributing the AIMS software to over 150 agencies annually and then waiting for installation, data being entered, electronically collated and then forwarded to the Department on a monthly basis. This has been too slow especially for the financial decision makers.

The online system automates the data collection processes and reduces the administrative burden for management and transmission of data. In development of the online system, the Department has endeavoured to improve the user experience and take into account some of the issues that have been raised.

Release of AIMS Online Entry System

The AIMS Online Entry System will be used for all 2000/01 end-of-year annual reporting and data collection forms for 2001/02 and beyond. A staged release will occur with priority being given to finance forms followed by monthly, annual and quarterly statistical forms. Finance forms are on target to be released late July and monthly returns will be available in August.

A test hospital site is planned for release late July to enable familiarisation for data entry personnel and to provide feedback. Details on the test site will be circulated by email to all AIMS contacts and will be posted on the AIMS web site.

Special features such as the capacity to import data from local hospital systems (required for the D1 return) will be released after the standard returns are complete. The capacity to import Excel data from spreadsheets is also planned.

Technical Requirements

As specified in the letter, the minimal specifications for hospitals to access the AIMS Online Entry System are:

Security

Hospitals entering data onto the AIMS Online Entry System will require a hospital username and password. This will enable hospitals to securely access their data. In July, each agency will be issued with one generic hospital username and password for hospital staff requiring access to the AIMS Online Entry System. Currently most hospitals have the AIMS database on a file server with shared hospital access for authorised personnel. Where separation is required between administrative areas, for example finance and statistical areas, further usernames may be requested by contacting the AIMS Help Desk. Passwords may be changed upon request if concerns exist over the integrity of the password.

AIMS online data entry will only allow each agency to access their own data. An auspice agency such as a metropolitan health service will have access to data for all agencies within their organisation.

Region Access

Regions will have access to the AIMS Online Entry System to view data for hospitals within their region. As the Online Entry System automates the data collection process, regions will be able to view data online at the same time as head office. A username /password for each regional office will be forwarded to the AIMS contacts in late July/early August.

Except for procedural changes associated with the data collection process, the existing roles for reviewing and monitoring of data within head office and regional offices are not expected to change. AIMS administration in head office will still liaise with regional office staff in rural Victoria regarding compliance and data quality matters.

Technical Support from AIMS

Responsibility for technical support will be split between agencies and DHS. The agency is responsible for providing a properly configured PC that has access to the internet using Internet Explorer 5. DHS supports its own internet connection and the application server.

AIMS Reports Web Site

The AIMS reports web site, to be known as the AIMS Information Centre, is being developed to provide reports on current and historic data. The AIMS Information Centre has facilities for reporting, viewing, monitoring and downloading data which will provide a significant productivity benefit in the elimination of much manual activity and streamlining of the work process of reporting AIMS data. A suite of reports is being developed to service internal and external clients. A separate project being developed by Grampians Region is also underway to provide regional agency reporting through regional databases.

Further information on this site will be distributed in August. Hospitals and regions are invited to email the AIMS Information Centre (infocentre@aims.dhs.vic.gov.au) or phone the AIMS Help Desk (9616 8595) to discuss their reporting requirements.

Data Collection Changes

Summary of changes to the data collection

Output Group Changes

Changes in output funding responsibilities have occurred following a restructure of the Aged Community and Mental Health Division of the Department. This has resulted in a revision of output groups to be used for the reporting of aged care services, primary health services and dental health services. Dental Health Services has been separated from Primary Health Services into its own output group. See the table below for changes in output groups.

New Output Groups (AIMS 2002) Output Groups (AIMS 2001)
127 Dental Health Services 114 Primary Health Services
128 Primary Health Services 114 Primary Health Services
129 Aged and Home Care 113 Aged and Home Care

This change is reflected in the revision of form names. Returns previously submitted for dental health services (114/S1 and 114/S2) will now have a prefix of 127 and returns previously submitted for aged care services (113/S1, 113/S2, 113/S5, 113/H1) have a prefix of 129. Primary health program returns (C1-C4) will remain as C1-C4. Form names that have changed as a result of the output group changes are listed below. A change in form name does not indicate any change in service activity reported.

New Form Name AIMS 2002 Form Name AIMS 2001 Form Description
127/S1 114/S1 Dental Health Services Admitted Patient Services
127/S2 114/S2 Dental Health Services Non-Admitted Patient Services
C1-C4 C1-C4 Primary Health Services-Community
129/S1 113/S1 Aged and Home Care Admitted Patient Services
129/S2 113/S2 Aged and Home Care Non-Admitted Patient Services
129/S5 113/S5 Aged and Home Care Residential Services
129/H1 113/H1 Community and Home Care (HACC)

Finance Return (Form F1)

Several modifications have been made to the 2001/02 Finance Return (F1) to enhance the quality of monitoring and reporting. The revised F1 return is on the AIMS website.

Annual Reporting Guidelines for 2000/01

The annual reporting guidelines for public hospitals 2000/01 were forwarded to hospitals early July. The Form F2 return for June 2001 mirrors the Annual Report for 2000/01. The due date for submitting the F2 return is 21 August 2001.

Sub-Acute Services-Interim Care (Form 305/S4)

From June 30 2001, Health Services will no longer report on Winter Emergency Demand Strategy beds. In the financial year 2001/02, one of the strategies to improve patient 'flow', which has been negotiated with five auspice services in the Melbourne Metropolitan area, is the provision of Interim Care. The five auspices are Northern Health, Eastern Health, Southern Health, Melbourne Health and the Sisters of Charity. Patients using Interim Care services will have more complex care needs, which impact substantially on their ability to function independently and they

The three main objectives for Interim Care are:

Mental Health Community Services (Form 115/S2)

From July 2001, indirect contacts and community centred contacts are to be aggregated and reported on Form 115/S2 under the heading "Other Contacts". This will ensure all contacts are included in the AIMS reporting system.

These items were previously reported and were removed for 2000/01. They are now being rolled up into one category. This data item can be extracted from the CMI Summary Statistics Reports Module that was developed by Southern Health.

Residential Aged Care Facilities (Form 129/S5)

Details on changes to this return are being forwarded to agencies from the Aged Care Branch, Aged Community and Mental Health Division. Following circulation of the changes, information will be loaded on the AIMS web site.

The residential aged care services return has previously been reported on Form 113/S5. As a result of changes to output group codes, the return will become Form 129/S5.

Community Health Services

Full details on the reporting requirements for agencies with a community health program and/or primary health service plan have been circulated by the Community Health Unit, Aged Community and Mental Health Division. A copy of reporting requirements can be obtained by viewing the document Community Health Unit Data Reporting Requirements, 2001-02 on the Primary Health Knowledge Base (PHKB) website.

The AIMS web site has a link to this document.

Home and Community Care (Form 129/H1)

Details of reporting changes for the Home and Community Care return (Form 129/H1) will be distributed by the Coordinated and Home Care Unit, Aged Community & Mental Health Division. Following the release of this information, details will be included on the AIMS web site.

Additional Data Collection Information

Agency Identification Codes

Some agencies may notice a difference in their agency identification code used for submitting AIMS data. From July, the agency code used in the Department's Service Agreement Management System (SAMS) will also be used for reporting AIMS information. This will affect predominantly rural agencies. Where AIMS data is collected at a campus level and a SAMS agency code does not exist, the current AIMS agency code will continue. This code will be linked to the SAMS agency code at the auspice level.

Annual Returns for 2000/01 (financial)

The 2000/01 Annual Returns will be distributed by Financial Analysis and Planning, Acute Health Division.

Data Entry/Import Facility for Hospital Veteran Information

Presently, non-admitted hospital veteran information is forwarded to separate areas of the Department to enable reimbursement of a premium payment for treatment of eligible veteran patients using the following services:

An online entry facility to capture hospital client specific veteran data for transfer to the Department of Veterans' Affairs is planned for development on the AIMS Online Entry System during this financial year. Data import facilities allowing transfer of data from a local inhouse system will be provided.

This will streamline the input process and improve efficiency and transfer of data for hospitals and the Department. Appropriate online access will be provided to the Department of Veterans' Affairs to enable immediate access and processing.

Agency Contact Details

Departmental mail and telephone lists for the hospitals, chief executive officers and chairs of boards are automatically generated from hospital contact information submitted through the AIMS system. Agencies are encouraged to modify the Online Entry System and keep the contact information current. This will ensure the Department internal and web mailing lists remain correct.

Email addresses are also collected and will soon be set up to enable automatic distribution of emails. Role based email addresses are recommended to reduce administrative difficulties resulting from staff changeovers.

CHRIS BROOK
DIRECTOR
ACUTE HEALTH

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