Provincial Health Indicators Work Group

Minutes

 

Friday, March 27, 1998
10:00 AM - 3:00 PM
Committee Room 1, North York Civic Centre

Present: Mary-Anne Pietrusiak, Durham Regional Health Unit
                Jo-Anne Peterson, KFLA Health Unit
                Terry Delmore, Halton Regional Health Dept
                Ruth Sanderson, Bruce-Grey-Owen Sound Health Unit
                Patrick Seliske, Waterloo Regional Health Unit
                Julie Stratton, Perth District Health Unit
                Hyewon Lee-Han, Toronto Public Health Dept, North York Office
                Nam Bains, Health Information Partnership Eastern Ontario Region
                Vic Sahai, Northern Health Information Partnership
                Ian Johnson, Toronto Public Health Dept, North York PHRED
                Doug Manuel, Public Health Branch, Ministry of Health

Regrets: Vivek Goel, Institute for Clinical Evaluative Services

1. Introductions

2. Minutes of Feb. 10: Accepted as written (subsequent change made to reflect new name of group).

3. Status Update

3.1 APHEO response - thumbs up

3.2 Ministry of Health response:

Public Health Branch - Brent Moloughney positive

IPE Branch - Pat Stuckless also positive. We need to examine work done for IPE already by a Data Warehouse working group (HIUs, etc.). Jessie Wong would be contact. Mary-Anne to follow up with amount of programming completed.

3.3 HIU response - positive, have joined working group.

3.4 OPHA - Peter Elson supportive and prepared to provide assistance.

3.5 NPHS - release date in May/98. Carol Paul does not have file layout yet.

3.6 PHRED Provincial Report

PHREDs were not downloaded with the rest of public health, but they have been given funding until April 1/99.
Provincial PHRED Steering Committee Meeting on Friday, April 3 to discuss three provincial initiatives:

1. Provincial Health Status Reports,
2. Systematic Literature Reviews,
3. Bench marking

In terms of Provincial Health Status Reports, PHRED is proposing 5 or 6 deliverables:

1. Overall Provincial Health Status Report,
2. About 4 focused reports on the 1996 OHS (likely to focus on Mandatory Programs, around lifestyles),
3. Francophone Report,
4. Aboriginal Report (possibility),
5. Popular Report for the Public (similar to what Larry Chambers did in late >80s),
6. Summary Data Sets in SPSS for HELPS to be distributed by the Public Health Branch by the Ministry to health units.

Because the PHRED committee is called the Provincial Health Status Report Work Group (our old name) it was agreed that we should change our name to the Provincial Health Indicators Work Group.

Ian suggested that the PHIWG could define the core set of indicators to be used in the provincial report. This will mean that the group will need to work quickly because of the proposed tight time-frames.

3.7 Demonstration by Vic of NHIP mapping program using HELPS database, followed by demonstration, using data from Data Warehouse, of obtaining hospital morbidity rates and 1990 OHS info.

4. Review of Other Projects, Indicators

4.1 CE Collaboration Project - Hyewon circulated a package of sample indicators from the chartbook being produced by the Collaboration Project and the list of indicators being considered by the group. Ian commented that if the PHIWG adopts the same format, there will not be a need for the CE Collaboration Project to continue. Their work will become adopted and incorporated at a provincial level.

4.2 Mandatory Health Programs Objectives - Ruth reviewed the Programs and developed a list of indicators grouped by: Chronic Disease and Injuries, Family Health, and Infectious Diseases.

4.3 Others Projects:

1) Metro DHC - no one knew much about this initiative,
2) Waterloo – Patrick circulated a package of health status report frameworks. The Group felt there was a need to adopt a framework to organize the indicators,
3) Federal Initiatives - NHIS and SPHINX components - felt to be a visioning exercise at this time - somewhat vague with detail missing. Doug will monitor progress and update the Group.

5. Terms of Reference

The purpose of the PHIWG is to systematically define and operationalize a core set of health status indicators using, as a framework, an elaboration of the Ontario Mandatory Programs and Services Guidelines. (Additions to the framework will include Population/Demographics, Leading Causes of Deaths and Hospitalizations, Social Environment and Health, and Physical Environment and Health)

6. Work Plan

Products discussed:

A compiled list of indicators will be produced from which a chartbook of indicators will result, similar to that started by Central East group. It is hoped that indicator definitions will be adopted by others for purposes of consistency and comparability. We must be in touch with other players involved in similar activities. APHEO members and others will have the chance to review drafts. It is intended that the HIUs will convert the indicators, as defined by the Group, into numbers to produce chartbooks on an ongoing basis for their local areas. The PHREDs would produce a provincial health status report, using the same indicator definitions, which then provides local areas with the capacity to compare themselves with the province. Another idea discussed was a project to show how this core set of indicators can be put into different frameworks.

Once it has been decided that PHRED will proceed with the provincial health status report, they will be hiring students to help with the work. It was decided that a student will pull together the indicators that have been defined for the Community Health Profile, the CE Collaboration Project, and the Data Warehouse (and any other relevant document) in a package that can then be examined at the next meeting. The package will be distributed in advance so that members can be prepared to discuss the indicators.

Next Meeting: May 11, 10:00 - 3:00

Location: Committee Room #2, Lower Level,
North York Civic Centre, 5100 Yonge Street