From the 1st of July this year Victoria’s public health services and denominational hospitals will be required to publish their statements of priority annually and they will also be required to provide a quarterly release of health performance data based on key performance indicators in the statement of priorities. The aim is to provide the public with information about the performance of their hospitals. Currently Data on health is available via the Data.vic () and on the Department of Health website () . A few hospitals also publish their own data on local websites. The purpose of greater transparency of health services data has been well documented. It has been demonstrated, or there is emerging support, that the following are the result of open data in the health sector: Increased accountability of the regulators Enables the choice of the public as to which public service to attend By comparing data between hospitals it can drive productivity Increase the quality of care An opportunity for social innovation as entrepreneurs use data to create apps Our event in August is focused on the impact of increasingly open and transparent data for the health system in the era of big data.
