The purpose of Primary Health Insights is to provide Primary Health Networks (PHNs) with a secure, private environment for the generation of new intelligence.
It will enable PHNs to support general practice and facilitate better planning of the primary health system. By providing a single platform that operates at a national level, PHNs are better able to develop and work with consistent data, standards, reports and analytical processes that make collaboration not only easier but also more effective and efficient.
Working with the same tools, with data located in the same environment, and using aligned methods and frameworks, PHNs can share staff expertise and insights with one other in ways that have not previously been possible – without needing to compromise data security. This also allows PHNs to safely collaborate with other organisations when appropriate.
The de-identified nature of data collected from general practices and the secure, segregated nature of Primary Health Insights’ storage and collaboration structures, as well as the PHNs National Data Governance Framework, means that on occasion approved organisations other than PHNs may join the platform without posing any risk to the security or privacy of patients’ and practices’ data held by PHNs.
Australian Institute of Health and Welfare Participation
In mid-2022 it was agreed that the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) will become a Primary Health Insights participant.
The AIHW is now a ‘non-member partner’ in Primary Health Insights with access to the platform’s services and, as the sole participant representative of the national jurisdiction, joins the governance committees that oversee it and how data is used on it. The Agreement confers no ownership stake - which is and will remain entirely with the PHNs.
The AIHW is an independent statutory Australian Government agency. It produces authoritative and accessible information and statistics to inform and support better policy and service delivery decisions, leading to better health and wellbeing for all Australians. It manages controlled access to Australia’s most comprehensive collection of health and welfare data and delivers a full range of data services.
With over 30 years’ experience working with health and welfare data the AIHW enjoys national and international recognition for its’ statistical expertise and proven track record in providing high quality, independent evidence.
The AIHW received funding in the May 2018 Federal Budget to develop an enduring National Primary Health Care Data Collection (PHCDC) to fill a long-standing information gap in relation to primary health care data for population health monitoring, research, policy, and planning.
Participation in Primary Health Insights will further AIHW’s primary care data development activities, by providing a ready built platform for collating, storing, analysing and managing appropriate access to data from the PHCDC.
Access to Primary Health Insights
Access to Primary Health Insights by other organisations or individuals for the purposes of research, planning of other public or private health or any other services is strictly controlled by the Primary Health Insights Governance Framework.
This governance structure precludes any commercial use of patient data held on the platform.