The consultation is open to the public until Thursday 12 July 2018.
IHPA’s annual Pricing Framework outlines the principles and policies to be adopted by the agency to set the National Efficient Price and National Efficient Cost Determinations for each financial year. It is released prior to the Determinations, following extensive consultation with states and territories, IHPA’s stakeholders and the general public.
The focus of this year’s consultation is to seek feedback on the ongoing approach to the implementation of pricing and funding for safety and quality.
The Chair of the Pricing Authority, Shane Solomon said, “We continue to work in collaboration with a broad range of stakeholders including Australian governments, clinicians and hospitals to implement the agreed funding approaches, and ensure that they are working to improve safety and quality across public health services.”
The 2017 Addendum to the National Health Reform agreement has been a major impetus behind the agenda on pricing and funding for safety and quality.
IHPA has since been working on a staged approach to developing pricing and funding adjustments for safety and quality to provide efficient health services with more patient-centric outcomes.
This consultation paper seeks feedback to develop an approach to reduce avoidable hospital readmissions and provide incentives for hospitals to identify areas for quality improvement.
Mr Solomon noted the value of timely and relevant data as a key driver to deliver safe and high-quality public health services.
“We believe broader access to data and analysis would benefit researchers, clinical groups and the public for benchmarking and facilitate greater transparency.”
The Consultation Paper is an important opportunity for stakeholders to engage with IHPA on the approach to pricing and funding for safety and quality as well as a range of other proposals that aim to improve public hospital services across Australia.
“We strongly encourage all interested parties to provide feedback as part of this process,” concluded Mr Solomon.
The public consultation process demonstrates IHPA’s ongoing partnership with a broad range of stakeholders to ensure sustainable, efficient and timely access to quality health services for all Australians.
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