Abstract
Author(s)
Lisa Wilton & April Simes
Affiliations
South Australia Health
Introduction
People living with severe mental illness (SMI) experience a life expectancy up to 20 years shorter than the general population, largely due to preventable physical health conditions. Addressing this inequity requires not only clinical action but also access to accurate, timely and linked data across mental and physical health systems.
Discussion
Through the SA Health Data and Analytics Program (DAP) Collaboration Zones, the Office of the Chief Psychiatrist established a dedicated mental health data zone to connect, analyse and visualise patient journeys across inpatient, community and emergency services. Historically, mental health and physical
health records were stored in separate systems, each with different identifiers, preventing a whole-person view. This project overcame these barriers by developing a secure, cloud-based analytics environment with daily auto-refreshed data from multiple source systems, electronic medical records (EMR) and mental
health community database systems.
A robust pipeline was designed to load, match, and transform raw data, linking mental health episodes with corresponding physical health encounters. The resulting Power BI app enables teams to view physical health assessments, vital sign trends, smoking/nutrition/alcohol/physical activity (SNAP) factors, immunisation status, and chronic disease alerts. This real-time, interactive dashboard has replaced lengthy static reports, allowing frontline teams and quality improvement committees to identify gaps, monitor outcomes, and target interventions.
For the first time, mental health services can identify potentially preventable hospitalisations (PPH) (e.g., influenza), track fluctuations in key physical health indicators, and integrate patient-reported experience measures (YES, CES) into service planning.
By breaking down data silos, this project supports the Equally Well vision: ensuring people with SMI receive the same attention to their physical health as anyone else. Linking mental and physical health data not only illuminates inequities but also creates the evidence base to drive meaningful, system-wide change.