HNA process MPHN uses a supply and demand approach to determine gaps in service which results in identification, prioritisation and planning of strategies or programs to address the gaps identified. Planned commissioned services and programs in response to the identified health needs provide service utilisation data which informs effectiveness and efficiency of services and programs and which feeds back into the continuous review of health needs and gaps in service provision. Understanding the quantity of the gap is one element, measured by supply and demand. Understanding the reason for the gap is another, MPHN take a consultative approach with community members, key stakeholders and health service providers to understand reasons why gaps exist and to co-design where applicable, solutions that address the root causes. MPHN take a stepped approach, identifying demand by developing population profiles analysing demographic and health data which are then prioritised for the region and within local government areas. Prioritisation assists in identifying the most significant issues and where geographically they occur in higher prevalence. MPHN constantly looks for robust data sources to include in its HNA data review. MPHN preferences gold standard sources of information such as the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW), Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), Public Health Information Development Unit (PHIDU) and New South Wales (NSW) Health data. An exciting improvement to MPHN’s data analysis in relation to prioritisation of health issues and risk factors includes the development of automation through the Population Health Analytics (PHA) tool which ingests templates, in excess of 500 data points currently, of MPHN related health data and automatically calculates priority status based on a defined algorithm of benchmarking throughout the nation and variance to national averages. Within its LGA structure prioritisation of areas to concentrate on included taking into account magnitude of the difference compared with MPHN or state averages. This provides a transparent and robust methodology to data analysis. Using service data as a measure of supply, MPHN maps where services are currently provided. Service supply can also include patient use of services data such as general practice data, Medicare Benefits Scheme (MBS) items and hospital usage rates. Workforce data is a critical piece of information that informs service gaps. Service mapping is undertaken in general practice and the community through MPHN staff regularly and at census points through the year. MPHN additionally use their commissioned service data to inform supply. Service use data is also prioritised using the MPHN automated Population Health Analytics tool.
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HNA 2022-25
