Mental Health Readmissions to Hospital/28 Day Readmission Rate

Identifying Attributes

Care Settings
Care Transitions
Country
Australia
Publishing Organisation
Key Performance Indicators for Australian Public Mental Health Services
Type of Quality Indicator
Outcome
IOM Quality Dimension
Effectiveness
Domain
Hospitalisation

Defining Attributes

Definition

Proportion of in-scope overnight separations from the mental health service organisation's acute psychiatric inpatient units that are followed by readmission to the same or to another public sector acute psychiatric inpatient unit within 28 days of discharge.

Numerator

Number of in-scope overnight separations from the mental health service organisation's acute psychiatric inpatient unit(s) occurring within the reference period, that are followed by a readmission to the same or another acute psychiatric inpatient unit within 28 days.

Denominator

Number of in-scope overnight separations from the mental health service organisation's acute psychiatric inpatient unit(s) occurring within the reference period.

Exclusions

Same-day separations; Statistical and change of care type separations; Separations that end by transfer to another acute or psychiatric hospital; Separations that end in death; Separations where the length of stay is one night only and a procedure code for Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) is recorded.

Use of Risk Adjustment
No
Risk Adjustments

None

Stratifications

Age, sex, Socio-Economic Indexes for Areas (SEIFA), remoteness, Indigenous status.

Data Attributes

Type of Data Collection
Administrative data
Data Collection Methods

State/territory admitted patient data. This indicator cannot be accurately constructed using the Admitted Patient Care National Minimum Data Set (NMDS). While the data set comprehensively provides a collection of separations from Australian public hospitals, its inability to uniquely identify a patient across episodes and across hospitals limits its capacity to count readmissions. There is no proxy solution available. In order to report this indicator at a national level, states and territories are required to individually provide separate indicator data. A reliable system of patient identifiers within the Admitted Patient Care NMDS is required to enable unique identification of individual consumers across multiple years, multiple admitted episodes and multiple hospitals.

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

Reported in Report on Government Services and progress of the Fifth National Mental Health and Suicide Prevention Plan.

Reporting Frequency
Annually
Reporting Frequency in Days
365
Indicator Has Recommended Targets
No

Source and Reference Attributes

Technical Specifications

National Mental Health Performance Subcommittee 2013. Key Performance Indicators for Australian Public Mental Health Services, 3rd edn. Canberra: NMHPC. www.aihw.gov.au/getmedia/f9bb1a07-a43b-458a-9b73-64ef19d8aedd/Key-Performance-Indicators-for-Australian-Public-Mental-Health-Services-Third-Edition.pdf.aspx

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