Responding to COVID-19 with real-time general practice data in Australia

Area of Science:

• Public Health Informatics
• Primary Care Data Analytics
• Epidemiological Surveillance

Background:

• The COVID-19 pandemic necessitated rapid adaptation in Australian primary care.
• A robust primary care approach involved changes in care models, including telehealth, and data-driven decision-making.
• The POpulation Level Analysis and Reporting (POLAR) program leveraged a 15-year engagement framework with general practices.

Purpose of the Study:

• To outline how a large primary care database (POLAR) provided real-time data to inform policy and practice during the COVID-19 pandemic.
• To demonstrate the capability of the POLAR platform in designing and deploying real-time data analytics solutions for various stakeholders.
• To support the Australian health system's response to a rapidly evolving public health emergency.

Main Methods:

• Daily extraction and processing of de-identified and encrypted data from over 1,300 general practices.
• Data cleaning utilizing Natural Language Processing and free text coding.
• Development of analytic solutions, including a COVID-19 geographic outbreak risk model incorporating pathology orders, diagnoses, progress notes, and confirmed case figures.

Main Results:

• Real-time data feeds were successfully delivered to general practices, Primary Health Networks (PHNs), and government agencies.
• A COVID-19 geographic risk stratification model identified priority hotspots based on local government areas (LGAs).
• This enabled proactive primary care responses, including targeted allocation of Personal Protective Equipment and placement of pop-up clinics.

Conclusions:

• The POLAR program demonstrated the critical ability of a well-designed system, supported by accurate data, to respond effectively in real-time to public health emergencies.
• Real-time data analytics in primary care significantly enhances the health system's capacity to manage evolving health crises.
• The platform's adaptability underscores the value of established data infrastructure for agile public health interventions.