Top Non-Local Hospital Separations for Alberta Local Areas, FY 2011/2012

Inpatient separations from the top three non-local hospitals accessed by residents of 132 local geographic areas in Alberta. The data covers the fiscal year 2011/2012 and is part of the Alberta Health Primary Health Care - Community Profiles report.

Use Cases

• Analyze hospital service utilization patterns by mapping patient separations from non-local facilities to their home Local Geographic Area.
• Compare the volume of separations to the top three accessed non-local hospitals across different Alberta communities.
• Study regional healthcare flows by examining where residents of specific Local Geographic Areas seek acute care outside their locality.

Strengths

• Data is structured for analysis at both the detailed Local Geographic Area level and the aggregate Alberta level.
• Covers 132 distinct local geographic areas defined by Alberta Health and Alberta Health Services.
• Uses separations, the standard measure for hospital utilization based on discharge abstracts.

Limitations

• Contains data only for a single fiscal year (2011/2012), limiting longitudinal trend analysis.
• Focuses exclusively on the top three accessed non-local facilities, omitting a complete picture of all patient outflows.
• The dataset is over a decade old, which may not reflect current healthcare utilization patterns.

Provenance

Source

Government of Alberta, Alberta Health Primary Health Care - Community Profiles report.

Collection Method

Based on hospital discharge abstracts (inpatient separations) compiled by Alberta Health and Alberta Health Services.

Time Range

Fiscal year 2011/2012.

Freshness

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Geography

Alberta, Canada, segmented into 132 local geographic areas.