Advancing knowledge for better health and social outcomes

The third International Health Data Linkage Conference will be held in Perth, Western Australia 1-4 May 2012.

The University of Western Australia, the Telethon Institute for Child Health Research, Curtin University and the Department of Health Western Australia have great pleasure in inviting you to the 2012 International Data Linkage Conference (IDLC) to be held from 1-4 May 2012 at the Perth Convention Centre in Perth, Western Australia.

This globally significant event will bring together data linkage pioneers and specialists from around the world and across Australia. They will be joined by scientists, researchers, data linkers, service planners and providers, policymakers and health consumers to discuss and exchange ideas relating to the full spectrum of utilising data linkage to advance knowledge for better health and social outcomes.

We are pleased to offer a comprehensive four-day package that will include a structured conference program comprising keynote presentations from invited leading international speakers and presentations from submitted papers, as well as a series of half-day and full-day workshops covering cutting edge theory and practice relating to a wide range of elements critical to successful data linkage.

Please register your interest today to stay in touch with us as we plan this exciting event for 2012.

www.datalinkage2012.com.au

In May, Emma Fuller of Data Linkage Australia and the International Health Data Linkage Network, was invited to attend EuroREACH meetings in Berlin and Tel Aviv as an External Expert.

EuroREACH is an EU funded project aimed at providing health researchers with tools to access health data about care and diseases for EU-wide comparability studies. Additionally, it is intended that a framework for data linkage of European data will be completed, with a proof of concept project focusing on the care received by chronic diabetes sufferers. Information from patient registries, hospital data and administrative sources will be linked across participating EU countries.

Core EuroREACH participants met in Berlin to discuss national data systems, data access and protection, comparability assurance, data sustainability and stewardship and various case studies.

In Tel Aviv, external experts from Australia, Austria, Canada, Denmark, Israel, UK, and the USA met to advise on building data systems for health services research, linkage methods, standardising coding systems, minimum requirements for component data sets and balancing access and privacy.

There will be a further two meetings of the EuroREACH external experts in 2011 and 2012.

Emma presented at both meetings about the data linkage operations in WA and Australia and of course took the opportunity to encourage all EuroREACH members to attend the International Health Data Linkage Conference in Perth, May 2012.

See http://www.euroreach.net/ & http://www.euro.centre.org/detail.php?xml_id=1574  for more information.