Medicare led to major hospital efficiency changes
Major improvements in efficiency are one of the significant changes in the Australian hospital system since the introduction of Medicare, according to a new study published in the latest edition of the Australian Health Review (AHA), the policy journal of the Australian Healthcare Association.
The AHA executive director, Prue Power said that “compared with 1982-83, public hospital bed numbers are down by 29.1% but hospitals are treating 69% more patients. The average occupancy level in public hospitals over this period has risen from 66% to 83%. These findings demonstrate how efficient the public hospital system has become over the last two decades.
“Some of the reasons for these efficiency gains, identified in the study, are the introduction by hospitals of practices such as pre-admission screening and discharge planning; preadmission work-ups and post-discharge care in place of in-house convalescence, as well as hospital-in-the-home and outreach services.
“The study identifies better primary care prevention strategies, improved imaging techniques and the development of new pharmaceutical treatments, as additional factors influencing the reduction in the average length of stay over this period,” Ms Power said.
Other major changes in the hospital system identified in the study were the increasing division of labour between the public and private sectors, with public hospitals undertaking most emergency care and the private sector providing 56% of elective admissions (both medical and surgical).
The study also made the point that in the current funding environment, public hospitals had little capacity to meet the growing demand for elective procedures.
