Diabetes data to improve equity

NEWS - eHealthNews.nz editor Rebecca McBeth

South Island hospitals are using real-time data to work towards equitable care for children with diabetes.

All five DHBs have implemented a database called the Diabetes Patient Management System, which collects patient data - such as treatments and glycaemic outcomes - and provides benchmarking for provider sites across Australia and New Zealand.

Martin de Bock, paediatric endocrinologist for Canterbury and West Coast DHBs, says this allows providers to compare themselves against their peers and ask questions about their performance.

International evidence shows that centres that contribute data to these types of big databases progressively improve their outcomes.

Starship Hospital, Waikato and Tauranga DHBs are already collecting the data and the plan is to roll-out the DPMS across the North Island within five years.

“Wherever you live in the country, we want to make sure you can access timely, equitable care and still get the outcomes and support you deserve, no matter which DHB you belong to,” de Bock says.

The data collected also helps with workforce planning and advocating for more resources.

“This is really important as we think about our diabetes services and what we’re likely to see in the future, so that we can plan for it appropriately,” explains de Bock.

“Every business plan requires hard data and if we don’t have it, we won’t be heard.”

He describes the database as a secure clinical tool, which doctors, nurses and allied health professionals can contribute to, and which can be audited.

The database was developed in Western Australia and data is sent to Australia to create the Australasian benchmarking reports.

de Bock would ultimately like to see a New Zealand data repository created, with benchmarking for all New Zealand DHBs. He says this would allow greater transparency (sites are deidentified in the Australasian report), and more focus on ethnicity, which is important in New Zealand’s context.

Ben Wheeler, chair of the paediatric type 1 diabetes working group, says the project gained unanimous support from the South Island DHBs.

Another long-term goal is to have the database used in adult diabetes services, he adds.

Stephanie Read, child health regional programme facilitator, South Island Alliance, says it took a dedicated working group, support from each of the South Island DHB IT teams and engagement from all the clinicians involved to get the database up and running.

Image 1 – snapshot from benchmarking report
Image 2 - Martin de Bock, paediatric endocrinologist for Canterbury and West Coast DHBs

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