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Data Element Detail

Non-admitted patient care-clinical urgency category
Identifying and Definitional Attributes
QH 040936 v1
Data Element
Data Element
Provisional
22-Sep-2005		Superseded
24-Jun-2011
Standard
01-Jun-2006
30-Jun-2010
The category which indicates the clinical urgency for an occasion of service.
Clinical urgency category (ODC)
Representational Attributes
Numeric
Code
N
1
1
Permissible Values

Permissible_values

CodeDescription
1Category 1
2Category 2
3Category 3
Supplementary Values

Supplemenary_values

-
Collection and Usage Attributes
Non-admitted Patient Care (Specialist Outpatient Services)
For specialist outpatient services a clinical urgency category is assigned on the following basis:

Category 1 Criteria
- Appointment within 30 days desirable; and
- Condition has the potential to require more complex or emergent care if assessment is delayed; and
- Condition has the potential to have significant impact on quality of life if care is delayed.

Category 2 Criteria
- Appointment within 90 days desirable; and
- Condition is unlikely to require more complex care if assessment is delayed; and
- Condition has the potential to have some impact on the quality of life if care delayed.

Category 3 Criteria
- Appointment not required within 90 days; and
- Condition is unlikely to deteriorate quickly; and
- Condition is unlikely to require more complex care if assessment is delayed.

Responsibility for assignment
The Medical Officer responsible for the specialty should assign the clinical urgency category, following an assessment of the patient's referral. This task may be delegated to a nominated officer (eg: medical registrar, resident or senior registered nurse) where clinical urgency assessment protocols have been clearly defined and documented.

Assigning a clinical urgency category requires the fulfillment of all criteria for that category. If a patient does not fulfill all criteria for Category 1, Category 2 is considered. If the patient does not fulfill all criteria for Category 2, then the patient is allocated Category 3 status.

The clinical urgency category (ie category 1, 2, or 3) should be defined within five working days following the Non-admitted patient care - referral receipt date.
Outpatient scheduling systems (eg: HBCIS - Appointment Scheduling Module) include a code for unclassified within the 'category' field for referrals that have not been allocated a clinical urgency category.
For Specialist Outpatient Services a code of 'Unclassified' should be used where a referral has yet to be classified.
Urgency classification allows a meaningful measure of system performance to be calculated, namely the number or proportion of patients who wait for times in excess of the maximum desirable time limit for their urgency category.
Relational Attributes
Related Metadata References

Related Metadata References_IR

  • 1 - 15
ViewRelationshipMetadata Item TypeMetadata Item SubtypeNameIdentifier & VersionApproval Status
Has been superseded byData ElementData ElementOutpatient clinic service request-clinical urgency categoryQH 040936 Version 2Superseded
Is used in conjunction withData ElementData ElementDate of change of waiting list detailsQH 040358 Version 1Superseded
Is used in conjunction withData ElementData ElementListing date on waiting listQH 040359 Version 2Superseded
Relates toData ElementData ElementNon-admitted patient care (outpatient)-source of referralQH 040938 Version 1Superseded
Relates toData ElementData ElementNon-admitted patient care-appointment schedule dateQH 040930 Version 1Superseded
Relates toData ElementData ElementNon-admitted patient care-failed to attend appointment indicatorQH 040940 Version 1Retired
Relates toData ElementData ElementNon-admitted patient care-individual/group session indicatorQH 040935 Version 1Superseded
Relates toData ElementData ElementNon-admitted patient care-referral issue dateQH 040928 Version 1Superseded
Relates toData ElementData ElementNon-admitted patient care-referral receipt dateQH 040929 Version 1Superseded
Relates toData ElementData ElementNot ready for care-end dateQH 040355 Version 2Superseded
Relates toData ElementData ElementNot ready for care-start dateQH 040354 Version 2Superseded
Relates toData ElementData Element ConceptNon-admitted patient care-specialist outpatient service-referralQH 040927 Version 1Superseded
Relates toData ElementData Element ConceptNot ready for careQH 040377 Version 2Superseded
Relates toData ElementData Element ConceptOccasion of serviceQH 040607 Version 1Retired
Relates toData ElementDerived Data ElementNon-admitted patient care-service delivery waiting periodQH 040937 Version 1Superseded
Implementation in Metadata Sets

Implemented

No Metadata Items
Source and Reference Attributes
Policy Framework for Specialist Outpatient Services in Queensland Health public hospitals (January 2005).
Clinical urgency category; Non-admitted patient; Outpatient clinic; Urgency category;