Palliative Care – Timeliness of Care

Identifying Attributes

Care Settings
Care Transitions
Country
Australia
Publishing Organisation
Government of South Australia: SA Health Key Performance Indicators 2023-24
Type of Quality Indicator
Process
IOM Quality Dimension
Timeliness
Domain
Access / Waiting Times

Defining Attributes

Definition

Percentage of palliative care patient episodes commenced within 2 days of the patient being ready for care.

Numerator

Count of patient episodes that start on the day of, or the day after, the date the patient required palliative care.

Denominator

Count of all palliative care patient episodes within the reporting period.

Exclusions
Use of Risk Adjustment
No
Risk Adjustments

None

Stratifications

Data Attributes

Type of Data Collection
Standardised clinical data
Data Collection Methods

Palliative Care Outcomes Collaboration (PCOC). PCOC's data set captures demographic, setting and clinical assessment information for palliative care patients. PCOC data are obtained from clinical assessments, collected at every patient encounter. Demographic and episode of care (setting) information is collected at the start and end of each episode. Data is captured at three levels: the patient-level, episode-level and phase-level.

Frequency of Data Collection
Monthly
Frequency of Data Collection in Days
30
Reporting Methods

SA Health Service Agreements 2023-2024. Not publicly reported based on current evidence.

Reporting Frequency
Quarterly
Reporting Frequency in Days
91
Indicator Has Recommended Targets
Yes

Source and Reference Attributes

Technical Specifications
Link to Measurement Tools
Quality Indicator Confirmed to be Part of a Program Used to Monitor Quality and Safety of Care Among Older People at a Population-Level between 2012-2022
Yes
Assessed by the Australian Consortium for Aged Care Collaborators as Generally Containing Good Properties (Importance and Scientific Acceptability)
No
Australian Consortium for Aged Care Endorsed
No
Identified by PHARMA-Care Project
No
Upload Date
12 March 2025