In early 2000 the Australasian Faculty of Rehabilitation Medicine (AFRM) facilitated the collaboration of rehabilitation sector stakeholders to achieve the establishment of the Australasian Rehabilitation Outcomes Centre (AROC).
The major objective of AROC is to improve the quality of rehabilitation and patient outcomes. AROC has developed a national benchmarking system to improve clinical rehabilitation outcomes for patients in both the public and private sectors and its initial focus has been on inpatient rehabilitation. It was recognised that the collection and analysis of outcome information would assist in the development of clinical protocols for rehabilitation, help the interpretation of outcome and service utilisation data, assist in the development of quality improvement initiatives, and in the interpretation of variations between service providers.

AROC was established as the national rehabilitation medicine clinical registry on 1 July 2002, and has five main roles:
• A national ‘data bureau’ that receives and manages data on the performance of rehabilitation services in Australia and New Zealand
• The national ‘benchmarking centre’ for medical rehabilitation
• The national certification centre for the Functional Independence Measure (FIM) instruments (designed to measure functional needs and outcomes)
• An education and training centre for the FIM and other rehabilitation outcome measures
• A research and development centre that seeks external funding for its research agenda
In 2016/ there were approximately 280 inpatient rehabilitation units in Australia and New Zealand (241 Australian (across both public and private sector) and 39 New Zealand). In 2016/7 data was submitted to AROC reporting on some 135,000 inpatient rehabilitation episodes.
Each member service receives a suite of outcome benchmarking reports every 6 months, comparing their patient outcomes with those of other rehabilitation services and with the national data. AROC casemix adjusts data using the AN-SNAP classification. This ensures that variation due to the differing mix of type and severity of patients by service is adjusted for. Any remaining variations in key outcomes such as Length of Stay (LOS) and functional change (FIM Change) are most likely due to process differences at the rehabilitation service level.

Each six months AROC also publishes LOS and FIM Change benchmarks by AN-SNAP class, at a national, public sector and private sector level. Member services are encouraged to use these benchmarks as a guide for setting expectations at the beginning of an episode of care, with patients, their family and the rehabilitation team. However, differing access to appropriate community based services may impact the ability of an individual service to always achieve benchmarks.

Each year AROC runs a series of benchmarking workshops/quality forums around the country, generally state by state. At these workshops key outcome data by service is compared and services are encouraged to discuss why their outcomes may be different from other comparable services. This process encourages services to understand their own data in some depth, and to be able to explain what practice, process, infrastructure or model of care has driven them to achieve the outcomes they have. The workshops also facilitate strong networking across services, as services freely share their successes and their challenges.

It should be noted that as a clinical quality, outcome focused, registry AROC collects data describing the clinical outcomes of rehabilitation. At this stage AROC does not collect, or link to, any cost data.

More information about AROC can be found on the AROC website http://ahsri.uow.edu.au/aroc/index.html or can be obtained by contacting AROC aroc@uow.edu.au

The International Society of Physical and Rehabilitation Medicine (ISPRM) is the result of the merger and integration of the International Rehabilitation Medicine Association (IRMA) and the International Federation of Physical and Rehabilitation Medicine (IFPMR). The merger was accomplished and ISPRM formed on 13 November, 1999.

The International Society of Physical and Rehabilitation Medicine (ISPRM) serves as the global agency for Physical and Rehabilitation Medicine (PRM). As a non-governmental organization (NGO) in relation with the World Health Organization (WHO), as an international umbrella organization of PRM physicians, and as a catalyst for international PRM research, ISPRM has a humanitarian or civil societal, a professional, and a scientific mandate.

ISPRM thus aims to “continuously improve PRM practice and facilitate PRM input in international health organizations with the goal to contribute to optimal functioning and quality of life of people experiencing disability”.

Since its foundation in 1999 ISPRM has been increasingly successful in achieving its mission, both within PRM and through its collaboration with WHO. With its emergence as the pre-eminent international scientific and educational society for practitioners in the field of PRM and its evolving policy role in collaboration with the WHO and the United Nations (UN).

RMSANZ is the current national society for Australia and New Zealand. Please log into to members portal to claim your discount for the annual congress.

THE WORLD FEDERATION FOR NEUROREHABILITATION (WFNR)

The World Federation for NeuroRehabilitation (WFNR) was established in 1996. It is a multidisciplinary organisation, open to any professional with an interest in the field. The WFNR has around 6000 members with 42 National Societies across the world affiliated to the WFNR. In addition, there are 37 Special Interest Groups, a newsletter available to all members, an official journal, Neurorehabilitation and Neural Repair, and an annual award recognising a neurorehabilitation programme that has benefitted patients.

The 11th World Congress for NeuroRehabilitation will be held in Lyon in October 2020, www.wcnr-congress.org In addition to organising a world congress every 2 years, WFNR is involved in many regional initiatives and has a `Flying Faculty’ of specialists providing education and training in countries around the world.

The WFNR is a dynamic and growing organisation focused on its mission to advance research, education and clinical practice in neurorehabilitation throughout the world.

Members of the RMSANZ Neuro Rehabilitation special interest group receives membership to WFNR which includes biannual newsletters, discounted rates to the annual congress and journal subscription.

ASSBI is a multidisciplinary society dedicated to improving the quality of life of people with brain impairment and their families. Our mission is to:
• Enable all disciplines who work with people with brain impairment to meet, learn and discuss the latest clinical research initiatives in a scholarly environment;
• Provide high quality continuing education;
• Publish scholarly research via our journal Brain Impairment;
• Promote scientific rigour and evidence-based practice in the field of brain impairment;
• Encourage students to present, share and publish their work; and
• Provide high quality assessment and treatment resources via ASSBI Resources