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Victorian Emergency Minimum Dataset - Overview

Development of the VEMD

The Victorian Emergency Minimum Dataset (VEMD) contains de-identified demographic, administrative and clinical data detailing presentations at Victorian public hospitals that receive the non-admitted emergency services grant, and other hospitals as designated by DHS.

Submission to the VEMD commenced in October 1995 as an initiative of the Department of Human Services in collaboration with the Victorian Emergency Department's Association, the Australasian College for Emergency Medicine Victoria Faculty, the Emergency Nurse's Association, and Monash University Accident Research Centre (MUARC). MUARC has been collecting data for Emergency department data for injury presentations through their Victorian Injury Surveillance and Applied Research System (VISAR—formerly known as the Victorian Injury Surveillance System—VISS) since 1989.

The VEMD is compiled in financial years (July to June). A list of all data fields stored in the VEMD for any given year is available from Victorian Hospital Data Reports.

In order to maintain and protect patient privacy, only the minimum data required for effective monitoring and analysis purposes are collected.

Collection processes are based on standard definitions and collection protocols to ensure comparability over time and across geographical and agency boundaries. Definitions of patient categories and other terms used in the VEMD are set out in the most recent VEMD Manual.  Where possible, these conform to the definitions in the National Health Data Dictionary, published by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW), and the DHS Common Client Dataset.

Uses of the Data Collection

The VEMD provides information for:

• Epidemiological purposes
• Health service planning and coordination
• Policy assessment and formulation
• Clinical research
• Quality improvement
• Patient management
• ED operation and management
• To enable Victoria to fulfil its reporting obligations under the National Health Information Agreement and the Australian Health Care Agreement.
  
  

Management of VEMD

The VEMD is managed by the Funding, Health & Information Policy Branch in the Metropolitan Health and Aged Care Services Division (Metropolitan Health and Aged Care Services Division) of the Victorian Department of Human Services.

Data Release

For information regarding the release of VEMD data refer to Victorian Hospital Data Reports.

VEMD File Consolidation

The Department creates an annual consolidated file of the VEMD by combining data from all contributing hospitals and this is closed on (or around) 21 September each year, three months after the end of the financial year. Hospitals should have transmitted and finalised all data for that financial year's separations by this date.

Once the consolidated file has been closed, the file is not amended or updated, thus maintaining the integrity of reports and datasets released for analysis. The Department maintains separate notes on any significant data anomalies identified in the consolidated file.  Data are not considered to be final until the file is consolidated.

VEMD Update Cycle

Towards the end of each calendar year, the Health Data Standards and Systems Unit calls for submissions for revisions to the VEMD with effect from the following 1 July. Revisions may be necessary, for example, to provide data for a change in funding mechanism or to monitor a new policy. Revisions may also be necessary to follow changes to the National Health Data Dictionary. Opportunities are also taken wherever possible to simplify and streamline the dataset. At all times, HDSS attempts to keep changes to a minimum.

The proposals are outlined in a Proposals for Revisions to the Victorian Emergency Minimum Dataset document, which is circulated to hospitals, software suppliers and others. All parties are invited to submit comments and questions on the proposals.  A Specification for Revisions document is then prepared, providing full details of the changes.  This is usually distributed early in the new calendar year.

Hospitals should then request that their software suppliers revise software in accordance with the Specification for Revision document ready to use from 1 July.

Data Transmission Time Line

Hospital must transmit data to the VEMD according to the Victoria-public hospitals and mental health services, Policy and Funding Guidelines, General Conditions of Funding for the current year.

VEMD Manual

The VEMD Manual is produced and distributed at the beginning of the financial year.  

The purpose of the VEMD manual is to provide clinical, nursing and clerical staff with the level of detail necessary to accurately record patient demographics, diagnoses, procedures, injury surveillance and other data.

Software suppliers should bear in mind that hospital systems do not need to exactly replicate the data items and edits outlined in the manual. However, the interface must be capable of formatting the data appropriately for transmission and processing to DHS.

VEMD Technical Reference Group

The VEMD Technical Reference Group was formed in November 2007 and comprises nominated representatives of Emergency Department (ES) clinicians, hospital management, ED clerical (data submission) staff, Health Information Managers and other relevant industry bodies, together with representatives of the Department of Human Services.

Please visit the VEMD Technical Reference Group page for further details including minutes of meetings.

VEMD Reference Files

Access to VEMD Reference files