Strengthening clinical registries in South Australia

Clin­i­cians, con­sumers and sys­tem lead­ers are work­ing with the CEIH to shape a mod­ern, statewide approach to clin­i­cal reg­istries, ensur­ing high-qual­i­ty data, bet­ter deci­sion-mak­ing and improved care for South Australians. 

Why reg­istries matter

Clin­i­cal Qual­i­ty Reg­istries (CQRs) are essen­tial tools for improv­ing care, bench­mark­ing out­comes, sup­port­ing research and inform­ing pol­i­cy. They enable con­sis­tent, high-qual­i­ty data col­lec­tion and analy­sis that dri­ves bet­ter deci­sion-mak­ing from the bed­side through to statewide planning.

With increas­ing pres­sure on the health sys­tem CQRs are more impor­tant than ever, high­light­ing the need for a strate­gic and sus­tain­able approach.

Key direc­tions from the Reg­istry Workshop 

The 2024 work­shop iden­ti­fied sev­er­al pri­or­i­ty actions:

• Devel­op and imple­ment a reg­istry roadmap to estab­lish statewide gov­er­nance, enable data inte­gra­tion and inter­op­er­abil­i­ty, and cre­ate a sus­tain­able sys­tem that sup­ports qual­i­ty improve­ment, research, and patient outcomes.

• Devel­op a statewide pol­i­cy frame­work for reg­istry gov­er­nance and integration.

• Estab­lish an SA Reg­istry of Reg­istries and a com­mu­ni­ty of prac­tice to fos­ter col­lab­o­ra­tion and shared learning.

• Mod­ernise reg­istry infra­struc­ture to enable dig­i­tal inte­gra­tion with EMRs, reduc­ing man­u­al data entry and duplication.

• Cre­ate a resource and invest­ment strat­e­gy, includ­ing work­force plan­ning and infra­struc­ture upgrades.

• Embed gov­er­nance and report­ing struc­tures to ensure trans­paren­cy and accountability.

Work to date

The roadmap is in its ear­ly devel­op­ment phase, and ear­ly con­sul­ta­tion has begun through work­shops and stake­hold­er engage­ment ses­sions. This work will accel­er­ate in 2026 as the CEIH launch­es its refreshed Statewide Clin­i­cal Net­work (SCN) mod­el, which intro­duces Pri­or­i­ty Focused Areas. 

One of the first pri­or­i­ty areas is data-dri­ven clin­i­cal deci­sion-mak­ing, with clin­i­cal reg­istries the focus. This approach ensures reg­istries are not stand­alone sys­tems but are built into how we improve qual­i­ty and safe­ty across the health system.

What’s next?

Over the com­ing months, the CEIH will share more about the roadmap, gov­er­nance arrange­ments and oppor­tu­ni­ties for you to be involved. We will out­line how clin­i­cians, con­sumers, and part­ners can con­tribute to shap­ing a mod­ern, inte­grat­ed reg­istry ecosys­tem that sup­ports bet­ter care for all South Australians.