Compensation Research Database: population-based injury data for surveillance, linkage and mining

BACKGROUND: Compensation health research aims to study the influence of compensation systems, processes and practices on health and health-related outcomes. In many jurisdictions, injury compensation authorities collect substantial volumes of case and service level data for the purpose of administering the compensation system. An important secondary use of such data is research and analysis to explore interactions between individuals and organisations in compensation systems, and between compensation and other systems including healthcare and legal systems, in order to understand the role of compensation processes in injury recovery. RESULTS: The Compensation Research Database (CRD) established at the Institute for Safety Compensation and Recovery Research at Monash University, holds over 20 years of population-based data for transport and workplace injury in the state of Victoria, Australia. The CRD is unique in that it is held independently, at arm’s length from the compensation authorities that collect the data, and its primary purpose is to support research and analyses to develop new insights into system and individual level outcomes. This paper describes the core elements of the database including the design, process and type of information collected. We review some of the research findings that have been published using the CRD, and describe the ongoing program of research utilising the database. CONCLUSIONS: The CRD is a unique administrative database that supports research into compensation health, with the objective of improving understanding of the interaction between injury compensation systems and injury recovery. The availability of the CRD for independent research is leading to substantial advancements in the compensation health research field and in related areas.