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A review of linked health data in Australian nephrology
Author(s) -
Kotwal Sradha,
Webster Angela C,
Cass Alan,
Gallagher Martin
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
nephrology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.752
H-Index - 61
eISSN - 1440-1797
pISSN - 1320-5358
DOI - 10.1111/nep.12721
Subject(s) - medicine , health care , health data , population health , disease , population , internet privacy , data science , environmental health , computer science , pathology , economic growth , economics
Linked health data bring together data about one person from varying sources such as administrative health datasets, death registries and clinical registries using a process that maintains patient privacy. Linked health data have been used for burden of disease estimates and health‐care planning and is being increasingly use as a research methodology to study health service utilisation and patient outcomes. Within Australian nephrology, there has been limited understanding and use of linked health data so far, but we expect that with the increasing availability of data and the growing complexity of health care, the use of such data will expand. This is especially pertinent for the growing elderly population with advanced kidney disease, who are poorly represented in other types of research studies. This article summarizes the history of linked health data in Australia, the nature of available datasets in Australia, the methods of access to these data, privacy and ethical issues, along with strengths, limitations and implications for the future.