Health
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Hospital Circular 16/2003

Date Issued: 3 July 2003

Publication: 16/2003

Distribution: Public Hospitals

Subject: AIMS reporting

Purpose: To provide details of changes in AIMS reporting for 2003-2004

This Circular provides details of changes to the Agency Information Management System (AIMS) data collection requirements for the reporting period commencing July 2003.

The Circular should be read in conjunction with other reporting guidelines released from the Department, such as the Victoria-Public Hospitals and Mental Health Services Policy and Funding Guidelines 2003-2004, Rural and Regional Health and Aged Care Division Policy and Funding Plan 2003-2004 to 2005-2006, the Community and Women's Health Program 2003-04 Data Reporting Requirements and Guidelines 2003-04 for the Home and Community Care (HACC) Program Quarterly Output Data Collection.

Copies of the AIMS returns are available on the AIMS website.

The AIMS Online Entry System web site will be updated ready for the first collection period mid August. The electronic AIMS Public Hospital User Manual will be updated to include reporting changes for 2003-04 in the next few weeks. Agencies will be notified, as new information is included on the websites.

Summary of changes

Discontinued returns

New returns

Modified returns

Discontinued returns

Admitted patients return (Form S1-all programs 111, 115, 118, 127)

The S1 return is being discontinued for acute care agencies providing admitted patient services. Comprehensive patient level admitted patient data is submitted to the Department via the PRS/2 system and results of the recent reconciliation project comparing the separations from both systems showed excellent results.

Sub-acute Admitted Patients by Streams of Care return (Form S4 305)

The administrative functions for payment of sub-acute patient days and nursing home type days have been transferred to the Victorian Admitted Episode Database, removing the need for the AIMS S4 305 return.

Mental Health Non-acute Admitted Patient and Residential Client return (S5 115)

The mental health residential data is being discontinued as it is collected on the RAPID system.

Although the mental health admitted patient returns (S1 and S5) have been discontinued, the Mental Health Employment return (E2) and the Community Services (S2_115) return are high priorities for the Mental Health Branch and need to be continued.

New returns

Admitted Patients (Testing Hospitals)

A new return to be completed by hospitals unable to submit patient level data to PRS/2 has been developed. For example, hospitals undergoing PRS/2 testing will complete the new return as an interim measure until patient level data can be transmitted.

Further information will be provided to hospitals involved with PRS/2 testing. The revised format will require submission of:

Average available (staffed) beds (A3)

Information on available (staffed) beds has previously been collected on the S1 and S4 Admitted Patient returns. These returns are being discontinued from July 2003 and a new bed return has been developed to continue the bed collection.

The purpose of the return is to obtain an average count of beds immediately available for use by an admitted patient if required. This information is required for planning purposes and must also be provided to other agencies such as the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare and Australian Bureau of Statistics.

Reporting categories are consistent with previous years but will be submitted on one bed return (A3). That is, only beds for acute services, acute mental health and sub-acute services are to be reported on the A3 return. Refer to the AIMS website for detailed definitions and formula for calculating average available beds.

A table showing the S1 form reported last year and the new 2003-04 bed categories are below.

2002-03 2003-04
S1 return Output
S1_111 Acute and sub-acute Split into 2 categories: Acute and sub-acute
S1_114 Dental health Acute
S1_115 Mental health Mental health
S1_118 Community care Acute
S4 Sub-acute Sub-acute

Environment Reporting-Energy and Water Consumption

The Victorian Government is committed to pursuing a comprehensive strategy to reduce greenhouse gas emissions within Victoria. A key element of this is tackling emissions arising from Government operation and the following targets have been established for reducing greenhouse gas emissions within Government Buildings:

Government Departments are to report annually on energy usage and cost including that used by DHS funded agencies. The energy consumption reporting requirements require:

Because of the significance of hospital energy use, where an estimated $50 million is spent by the public health sector on energy annually, information is being collected by AIMS. Accordingly two new forms have been included in the AIMS report. Note that any savings achieved by reducing energy costs are to be retained by the hospitals themselves.

Information provided in these forms of your agency's sites energy use will be used for inclusion in the Departmental annual report to Cabinet.

To enable your agency to manage its energy consumption it will need to monitor and track the energy bills for individual sites and accounts on a monthly basis. Most agencies already undertake this as part of good management and for bill verification. A standard spreadsheet for monitoring and tracking energy accounts by agencies as well as an on-line help manual is being developed with input from hospital engineers, and this will facilitate on site energy management and reporting to AIMS.

A survey will soon be conducted (in July) to collect historical energy consumption data and to confirm agency site details. This data will be used to:

The Department has supported the Government's energy reduction initiatives by appointing an energy manager, currently preparing the DHS energy / environment policy and identifying strategies to meet government targets. Other initiatives to be pursued include conducting energy seminars and training, undertaking audits, evaluation of opportunities to implement energy saving projects and identifying suitable facilities for demonstration project trials. These initiatives focus on benefits that can be achieved within hospitals.

For further information contact the AIMS Help Desk on 9616 8595 or Paul Rogers, Energy Manager, on 9616 2063 (paul.rogers@dhs.vic.gov.au) or Sarah Bending, Environment Officer, on 9616 2049 (sarah.bending@dhs.vic.gov.au).

Agency contact details

Hospital address and contact details for key personnel are to be collected online from July 2003. This will assist the Department in maintaining up-to-date information for hospitals and ensure the Department's electronic mail and telephone lists remain correct. Contact information currently held by the Department will be loaded onto the website and hospitals are requested to confirm the information is correct and then update the on-line website as changes occur.

Contact details are required for the following personnel:

** Email addresses are included in the collection and will be used to establish automatic group lists for distribution of electronic mail. Generic (role based) email addresses are recommended to reduce administrative difficulties resulting from staff changeovers.

Modified returns

Finance Returns

A range of changes have been made to the Annual Return financial forms for 2002-2003, and the monthly finance return (F1) for 2003-04 to better align these returns with the statutory financial statements in hospital Annual Reports, and improve overall reporting consistency. The major changes are:

  1. Refinement of the definition of the Health Services Agreement (HSA) segment. 'Services supported by the HSA' comprises services substantially funded by DHS through the HSA as well as like services with other funding sources provided in association with HSA services. This means that:
  1. Creation of a new program category in the HSA segment 'Aged Residential Care', which will encompass all Commonwealth-accredited aged residential care services (both hostels and nursing homes), except psychogeriatric nursing homes and hostels. Expenses and revenues relating to psychogeriatric nursing homes and hostels will continue to be separately identified under the mental health program.

    This also means, as indicated above, that aged care hostel services are to be reported under the HSA segment. However, resident accommodation payments, whether as accommodation charges (nursing homes) or as interest and retention amounts on accommodation bonds (hostels) are to be reported as capital income.

    All other former 'Aged and Home Care' services (e.g. HACC) are to be reported under the 'Other Services' category.
  1. Redefinition of the 'Other Services' program category in the HSA segment to encompass all HSA-funded services except for Acute Health, Mental Health and Aged Residential Care. The 'Other Services' category therefore includes all non-residential aged care (HACC, ACAS, carers, etc), community health, dental health, disability, public health, drug treatment, problem gambling, mother and babies and other HSA-funded services.

    Note that sub-acute services, including palliative care, are now funded through Acute Health, not Aged Care, and are to be reported under Acute Health.

Annual Returns-Other Changes for 2002-2003

Form 1A Revenue Statement

  1. Creation of new revenue items to separately identify revenues for staff and support services shared with other public hospitals, and revenues received from Dental Health Services Victoria for community dental services.
  2. Although not a change, it is important to note that the practice of recording untied donations (except capital donations) received through general appeals (e.g. Good Friday Appeal) in the HSA segment will continue. This is in contrast to the F1 where untied income from general appeals is recorded in the non-HSA segment.

Form 1B Expenditure Statement

  1. Abolition of collection of expenditures on departure packages.
  2. Inclusion of a new Agency Nursing category, to align the F1 and the Annual Return, and to eliminate any ambiguities that may apply in this area.

Form 2 Operating Fund Expenditure

  1. What was formerly Forms 2A and 2B have now been combined into a single Form 2, and brought into line with the other changes (above).

Form 4B and 4C Nursing Home and Psychogeriatric Nursing Home and Hostel Fees, Revenue and Statistical return

  1. Interest and retention amounts on resident accommodation bonds are now separately identified in these forms.

Forms 5B and 5C Home and Community Care (HACC) revenue and expenditure statement and annual service acquittal report

  1. Advice on changes relating to Forms 5B and 5C will be distributed by the Coordinated and Home Care Unit, Aged Care Branch, Rural and Regional Health and Aged Care Services Division.

Finance Return (Form F1)-Other Changes for 2003-2004

Statement of Financial Performance

  1. Re-naming of the 'Government revenue' item in each of the four program categories in the HSA segment as 'DHS HSA revenue', so that this line records DHS HSA revenue only. A separate category has also been established in the 'Other Services' program to record revenues from Dental Health Services Victoria.
  2. Although not a change, it is important to note that the practice of recording untied donations (except capital donations) received through general appeals (e.g. Good Friday Appeal) in the non-HSA segment will continue in 2003-04. This is in contrast to the 2002-03 Annual Return and the 2002-03 statutory financial statements where this income should continue to be recorded in the HSA segment.

Performance Indicators

This section is streamlined with fewer indicators.

Aged Care Non-Admitted Patient Services (S2 129)

Programs that have been administratively transferred to other areas of the Department have been removed from Form S2_129. From July 2003, the service activity for these programs should be reported according to the new funding arrangements. That is,

The reporting of ACAS completed assessments is to continue on the S2_129 return.

Home and Community Care (H1)

The Home and Community Care return (Form H1) has been expanded to include Telelink services and the provision of delivered meals and planned activity groups to eligible veterans. Only agencies receiving Department of Veterans' Affairs funds from the Department for delivering meals and/or planned activity groups to eligible veterans should report these activities.

Primary and Community Health Programs (C4-C6)

All hospital-based service providers that have a Community Health Program and/or Primary Health Programs Service plan are required to provide reports as outlined in the Community and Women's Health Program 2003-04 Data Reporting Requirements. This document will be available on the Primary Health Knowledge Base website in July.

The main change for Primary Health is expansion of the Registered Client Report (C4) to include the department's 'Cultural Diversity Framework' four core indicators endorsed as the standard minimum set of variables for use in determining the cultural and linguistic diversity of target groups assessing Government services.

For the Health Promotion Report (C6) additional data code values have been introduced for the recording of Population Group and Priority Issue information for clients accessing health promotion services. These codes have been implemented based on feedback received from the sector. There is also a structural change to this report with Priority Issues now preceding Population Group on the form template. The repositioning of these columns is explained in the Health Promotion section of the Community and Women's Health Program 2003-04 Data Reporting Requirements.

All workforce development activities regardless of their funding base (funding source) need to be reported using the revised Workforce Development Report (C5). The report requires agencies to report on three items: the number of staff, the number of hours and three major strategic workforce development priorities for the reporting period. The frequency of this report has been reduced from quarterly to half-yearly.

Mr S Solomon
Executive Director
Metropolitan Health and Aged Care Services
 Dr C W Brook
Executive Director
Rural Health and Aged Care Services
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