The minimum information about a palliative care service that needs to be collected and appropriately stored to audit that service, its effectiveness, its efficiency, its strengths, and its weaknesses.
Such collection and collation of data, based on national and/or internationally accepted definitions, is now recognized as an essential management tool for all palliative care services, whatever their size or model.

The National Council for Palliative Care. MSD Data Manual. 2009.