Centre for Outcome and Resource Evaluation (CORE)

The ANZICS Centre for Outcome and Resource Evaluation (ANZICS CORE) is a bi-national peer review and quality assurance program which has provided audit and analysis of the performance of Australian and New Zealand intensive care since 1992. This capability is uniquely provided by ANZICS, which offers an overview across regional, state, federal and international jurisdictions.

Under the direction of the ANZICS CORE Management Committee, the centre aims to:

• Provide a peer review mechanism for contributing adult and paediatric intensive care units by providing data processing and reporting facilities
• Develop, collect, analyse and publish data obtained from the annual resource data survey
• Enable appropriate epidemiological research of intensive care by providing a comprehensive database
• Ensure optimal compatibility with other databases particularly those held by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare
• Provide reliable information to clinicians, policy makers, health care providers and state and federal governments to improve critical care services.
• Liaise with the intensive care community in order to determine national research and peer review strategies
• Develop the research focus and activities of the ANZICS CORE through local, national and international collaboration
• Promote research activities directed at greater understanding of critical illness, its management and outcome
• Become a resource centre for intensive care research activities through the dissemination of research reports, provision of information from the ANZICS CORE database and the reference collection

The research focus of ANZICS CORE includes resource issues and planning, state-wide infrastructure planning, influenza pandemic planning, biosecurity and terrorism planning, critical care workforce and local hospital staffing, demographic aspects, quality activities, processes of care and international trends and comparators.  The centre also researches the availability and utilisation of critical care resources, patient outcomes, mortality, disease patterns and the effectiveness of critical care interventions.

ANZICS CORE is made up of 3 data registries.  The Adult Patient Database (APD), the ANZICS Paediatric Intensive Care Registry (ANZPIC Registry) and the Critical Care Resources (CCR).  All Australian and New Zealand Intensive Care Units are invited to contribute to the ANZICS CORE Databases. A list of the contributing ICUs can be downloadedhere:  Contributing CORE Sites (41.95 kB).  Free software is provided to units to assist in the collection of data.  This software is called AORTIC.

Further information regarding ANZICS CORE's three registries is available on this website or by contacting the CORE office.