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Data Element Detail

Elective surgery waiting list episode-patient listing status, readiness for care
Identifying and Definitional Attributes
QH 041721 v1
Data Element
Data Element
Draft
12-Jun-2014		Current
04-Aug-2014		Superseded
29-Jan-2018
Standard
01-Jul-2014
30-Jun-2016
An indicator of the person's readiness to begin the process leading directly to being admitted to hospital for the awaited procedure.
Elective surgery/Waiting list
Ready for care status
Representational Attributes
Numeric
Code
N
1
1
Permissible Values

Permissible_values

CodeDescription
1Ready for care
2Not ready for care
Supplementary Values

Supplemenary_values

-
Collection and Usage Attributes
A patient may be 'ready for care' or 'not ready for care'. Ready for care patients are those who are prepared to be admitted to hospital or to begin the process leading directly to admission. These could include investigations/procedures done on an outpatient basis, such as autologous blood collection, pre-operative diagnostic imaging or blood tests. Not ready for care patients are those who are not in a position to be admitted to hospital. These patients are either:
- staged patients whose medical condition will not require or be amenable to surgery until some future date; for example, a patient who has had internal fixation of a fractured bone and who will require removal of the fixation device after a suitable time; or
- deferred patients who for personal reasons are not yet prepared to be admitted to hospital; for example, patients with work or other commitments which preclude their being admitted to hospital for a time.

Not ready for care patients could be termed staged and deferred waiting list patients, although currently health authorities may use different terms for the same concepts.

Staged and deferred patients should not be confused with patients whose operation is postponed for reasons other than their own unavailability, for example; surgeon unavailable, operating theatre time unavailable owing to emergency workload. These patients are still 'ready for care'.
Periods when patients are not ready for care should be excluded in determining 'Waiting time (at removal)' and 'Waiting time (at a census date)'.
The dates when a patient listing status changes need to be recorded. A patient's classification may change if he or she is examined by a clinician during the waiting period, i.e. undergoes clinical review. The need for clinical review varies with the patient's condition and is therefore at the discretion of the treating clinician. The waiting list information system should be able to record dates when the classification is changed (metadata item Category reassignment date).
At the Waiting Times Working Group meeting on 9 September 1996, it was agreed to separate the metadata items Patient listing status, readiness for care and Clinical urgency as the combination of these items had led to confusion.
Relational Attributes
Related Metadata References

Related Metadata References_IR

  • 1 - 5
ViewRelationshipMetadata Item TypeMetadata Item SubtypeNameIdentifier & VersionApproval Status
Has been superseded byData ElementData ElementElective surgery waiting list episode-patient listing status, readiness for surgeryQH 041721 Version 2Current
Is derived fromData ElementData ElementNot ready for care-end dateQH 040355 Version 3Superseded
Is derived fromData ElementData ElementNot ready for care-start dateQH 040354 Version 3Superseded
Is used in the derivation ofData ElementDerived Data ElementElective surgery waiting list episode-waiting time (at a census date), total daysQH 040962 Version 2Superseded
Relates toData ElementData Element ConceptElective surgery waiting list episodeQH 041716 Version 1Current
Implementation in Metadata Sets

Implemented

  • 1 - 1
ViewMetadata Item TypeMetadata Item SubtypeNameIdentifer & VersionObligationApproval StatusEffective FromEffective To
Information AssetData CollectionElective Surgery Data Collection (ESDC)QH 020110 Version 1MandatorySuperseded30-Sep-201230-Jun-2016
Source and Reference Attributes
Australian Institute of Health and Welfare
METeOR data element: Elective surgery waiting list episode- patient listing status, readiness for care code N, Identifier 471698, Health standard 02/05/2013 https://meteor.aihw.gov.au/content/index.phtml/itemId/471698/meteorItemView/long
Elective surgery; Ready for care; Waiting list;