Accuracy of surgical death information: comparison of data held by Victorian Audit of Surgical Mortality and Victorian Agency for Health Information.

Background: The Victorian Audit of Surgical Mortality (VASM) investigates all surgically related deaths in Victoria. The Victorian Admitted Episodes Database (VAED) is an administrative dataset maintained by the Health Department's Victorian Agency of Health Information (VAHI). We have reviewed clinical records to assess the correlation between deaths reported to the databases.