About Us
The Centre for Health Record Linkage (CHeReL) is dedicated to
helping researchers, planners and policy makers access linked
health data about people in the NSW and ACT. We host a
secure, high performing data linkage system - one of the
largest of its kind in Australia - which
facilitates high-quality research and health policy
decisions.
Connecting the dots for health care in NSW and the ACT
Throughout our lives, information about our health and the care
we receive is recorded. Much of this information is securely stored
at separate points in the health system, such as in databases at
hospitals, health departments and other organisations that provide
health care. The CHeReL enables this data to be sourced and
joined together securely using record linkage, a process that
brings together information from different databases about the same
individual, family, place or event. This process creates a
chronological sequence of health events or individual 'health
story' that can be combined into a much larger story about the
health of people in NSW and the ACT. This information can be used
for research projects and to plan and improve health services
across the population.
Why is linking health data important?
Record linkage allows a more complete picture of the health of
the population than was previously possible. The information can be
used to study:
- the safety, quality and costs of health care by linking
information on different treatments with outcomes such as emergency
department visits, admissions to hospital and deaths
- the relationships among personal, economic and lifestyle
factors and health through linking data from research studies and
surveys with outcomes such as emergency department visits,
admissions to hospital, cancer notifications and deaths
- societal and community influences on health by linking health
data with information from other agencies, such as education and
community services.
Who can benefit from the CHeReL's services?
The CHeReL provides high quality data linkage services and has
used data from the health, education, human services, justice and
transport sectors to enable research and evaluation. Services are
supported by the CHeReL's core record linkage system (the Master
Linkage Key), which currently contains pointers to over 69
million records relating to more than nine million
people, making it one of the largest systems of linked
personal information from health-related databases in Australia.
This vast resource can be beneficial for researchers,
government and health planners.
Researchers - accessing linked data that already exists
is relatively quick and cost-effective compared to doing a
research study from the beginning. Record linkage
provides data for whole populations, minimising bias and
creating data that would be prohibitively expensive to
collect in any other way. Researchers accessing data through
the CHeReL can also test and develop their research on
existing data, allowing better targeting of funding for new
research.
Policy makers - linked data allows the public health system to
better identify issues of population health importance, plan
services and interventions to address these issues, and monitor and
evaluate the effectiveness of services and interventions.
To find out more about how the CHeReL can assist you please
email us at cherel@cancerinstitute.org.au
or telephone (02) 8374 3515.
