National overviews

How to use the National overviews page

The National overviews page allows you to see the results for a selected measure across all Primary Health Network areas (PHNs) or Medicare Locals in Australia. Data may also be available for smaller geographies, such as Local areas (SA3).

Help topics:

• Selecting measures
• Exploring the results
• Changing geographies
• Changing data periods
• What is a peer group?

Selecting measures

To view national results for different measures, use the box to the right of the map. This allows you to select the desired health measure to display on the map and in the tables below.

Step 1 – Select one of the six categories of measures (shaded in blue) using the drop down arrows to see the list of available measures.

Step 2 – Select the measure to display.

The results of your selection will be displayed in the map and in the tables below.

Tip:Where the results span multiple data periods (e.g. years), the map will default to displaying the most recent period. Use the arrows on the map or the drop-down menu above the chart to move between available data periods.

The Australian Government announced in the 2014–15 Budget that Primary Health Networks (PHNs) would replace Medicare Locals from mid-2015. PHNs are responsible for connecting health services across local communities so that patients, particularly those needing coordinated care, have access to a range of health care providers, including practitioners, community health services and hospitals. PHNs will work directly with GPs, other primary care providers, secondary care providers and hospitals.

Starting in mid-2011 and ending in mid-2015 Medicare Locals were responsible for planning and funding primary health services in communities across Australia. They helped to ensure patients could access the care they needed, particularly when a variety of health workers were involved in providing treatments.

Exploring the results

Map view

The results for your selected measure will be displayed on the map, with different colours displaying the range of results. Look at the legend key to the bottom of the map to understand what the colours mean. You can click on the map to see the name of a local area and the relevant result for that measure. You can also change the level of geography displayed on the map using the drop-down menu above the map, located under the measure title.

The map defaults to display results by Primary Health Network (PHN) area, with the option to add the following additional geographic boundaries to the map:

• Statistical Area Level 3 (SA3)
• Local Hospital Network (LHNs)
• Medicare Local catchments.

Chart view

The data for the selected measure is displayed as a chart below the map allowing you to compare the performance of your local area against comparable areas across Australia. Results are available by Primary Health Network area and, where available, Statistical Area Level 3 (SA3) or Medicare Local catchment, depending on the measure and data period selected.

The charts shown will vary, depending on the information displayed. The labels on the chart describe the measure, geography and the data periods displayed. Where applicable, these results are grouped by peer group.

For some measures, more than one data period is available. Select a data period from the drop-down menu above the chart to see available results for other data periods.

Tip:To find out more about the data available, or how the values were collected and calculated, select the ‘About the data’ icon below each chart.

Footnote symbols will be displayed on the chart where relevant. Hover over the symbol to see the footnote text, or scroll to the bottom of the chart to see all footnotes relevant to the chart.

Changing geographies

For selected measures, data may also be reported at smaller local geographies, such as Statistical Area Level 3 (SA3). If data are available at smaller geographies for the measure you have selected, there are two ways to change the geography you are viewing:

1. You can use the drop-down menu that is visible above the map under the measure title.
2. You can use the drop-down menus that appear above the chart to change your local geography.

Changing data periods

For selected measures, previous data periods may available to view. There are two ways to change data period you are viewing:

1. You can use the arrow that may appear on the map to navigate through previous data periods.
2. You can use the drop-down menu that appears above the chart to change your data period. Depending on the data period selected, your reporting unit will change.

What is a peer group?

The AIHW presents health performance information for diverse geographical areas that may differ from each other in many ways. To make it easier to compare fairly, where possible the AIHW allocates areas and hospitals into peer groups. This allows, for example, metropolitan areas or hospitals to be compared more easily to other similar areas or hospitals.

As Primary Health Network areas are much larger in size than Medicare Local catchments (there are 31 PHNs compared to 61 Medicare Locals), we have not at this time allocated PHNs into peer groups given the diversity in local communities within many PHNs.

In the case of Medicare Locals, they have been grouped into one of seven peer groups, based on remoteness, socioeconomic status and distance to hospitals. This allows:

• Medicare Locals to be compared within the same metropolitan, regional or rural peer group
• Medicare Locals to be compared with the average for their peer group.