10 December 2009
The Australian Healthcare and Hospitals Association (AHHA) today expressed
disappointment that the Productivity Commission's final report on public and private
hospitals, released today, contains some serious data gaps.
"AHHA welcomes the finding of the Productivity Commission that public hospitals are
performing efficiently and delivering good value to the community,” Ms Prue Power,
AHHA Executive Director said today.
"However, we are concerned that the final report has not addressed some significant
data gaps, identified by AHHA in the draft report, which prevent a more meaningful
comparison of public and private hospitals.
"For example, the cost of medicines cannot be compared between the two sectors when
PBS costs in private hospitals are not included. This is a glaring omission which
undermines the credibility of the report in this area.
"We are also disappointed that the Commission did not include the cost of allied health
care in the study. This represents a significant component of the cost of hospital care, in
particular for people with chronic conditions. The cost of capital has also not been dealt
with in a comparable way across the sectors making comparisons in this area virtually.
impossible.
"In addition to this, the Report does not include the cost involved in carrying out
teaching responsibilities in public hospitals. This is a serious omission as public hospitals
dedicate considerable resources to the important task of training the next generation of
the Australian health care workforce.
"Finally, AHHA notes that the inclusion of public hospitals in remote and very remote
areas adds to the average cost of public hospital care, due to the higher cost of
providing care in these areas. AHHA believes that these hospitals should have been
omitted from comparative cost calculations given that there are no private hospitals in
these areas.
"However, AHHA welcomes the Commission's recommendation to move towards a more
robust and nationally-consistent data collection on hospital-acquired infections, such as
including private hospitals in national reporting arrangements.
"This will enable future reports to provide a more meaningful comparison between
sectors and give governments, policy makers and the Australian community robust
information about their hospital system,” Ms Power said.
For further information/comment:
Ms Prue Power 0417 419 857
Data gaps mar
hospitals report
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