Australia's Commonwealth Department of Health and Family Services, Budget Document 1997-98

The Government will spend around $40 million over four years on measures designed to support improved management of the acute health care sector.

In this section:

Fact Sheet 8

Acute health care initiatives to stimulate reform

The Government will spend around $40 million over four years on measures designed to support improved management of the acute health care sector. The initiatives are designed to reduce costs and improve services for acute care hospital patients.

The measures are:

improving the way hospitals work through microeconomic reform;
updating information technology; and
improving hospitals' performance indicators.

A number of programs in recent years designed to improve hospital performance are scheduled to end shortly. The Government has decided in the 1997-98 Budget to extend the work in this important area under a comprehensive and integrated program covering four years. The measure will work across several policy areas to overcome barriers to microeconomic reform and improved health outcomes. The Commonwealth will work on a collaborative basis with the States and Territories.

Microeconomic reform

This measure will promote microeconomic reform within the acute hospital and affiliated sectors to improve the organisation, cost effectiveness and quality of health care.

Through these initiatives, patients will be more involved in their health care and will play a key role in improving the way hospital services are managed. For example, consumers will be represented on hospital planning committees and involved in focus groups.

The reforms will pilot innovative ways of providing and communicating information to patients so they become better informed about their care and can help plan their health services.

Within the acute care sector there are still barriers to improving services to patients. Financial and structural barriers can cause fragmentation, duplication and lack of coordination with other sectors of the health care system. This measure will, in collaboration with the States and Territories, develop more cost-effective linkages between public hospitals, ambulatory care and community based services.

Information technology

The information technology initiatives will establish national standards and specifications for electronic formats for patient records and for electronic links between health service providers. It will also pilot electronic decision support systems, including best practice and evidence based clinical guidelines. A key component of this work will be the resolution of privacy and confidentiality issues.

This measure will improve communication and decision making at all stages of health care provision. It will use information technology to integrate medical records, clinical decision support systems and provider links.

Health performance information

The Government is working in partnership with the States and Territories and other stakeholders to develop robust, nationally consistent, reliable and valid indicators to monitor progress in health service performance. Considerable investment has already been made by the Federal, State and Territory governments through the National Hospital Outcomes Program.

The new funding will allow refinement of the indicators of hospital system performance and the treatment of specific conditions. These indicators will be used by clinicians, governments and consumers to assess the services' effectiveness. The performance indicators will provide clinicians with mechanisms to measure, analyse and improve the quality of health care and provide the Government with the tools to assess the performance of the hospital sector. Consumers will also be able to access better information about health services.

These initiatives will lead to improved management of and structural reform to the acute health care sector throughout Australia.

Contact: Diana Shogren, Principal Adviser, Health Service Outcomes Branch, (06) 289 6886
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