Provision of industry data to the Independent Hospital Pricing Authority
This circular is to advise that the Department of Health (the department) has issued requests for device level data from the medical technology industry to enable the Independent Hospital Pricing Authority (IHPA) to provide advice to the department on the benchmark price for prostheses in the public sector as a part of the Prostheses List (PL) reforms announced in the 2021-22 Federal Budget.
Requests were sent in August 2021 through industry bodies (AusBiotech and Medical Technology Association of Australia) as well as directly to companies via email.
If your company has device(s) listed on the Prostheses List and has not received a request for data, or requires clarification around the request, please contact enquiries.ihpa@ihpa.gov.au.
The provision of this data is critical to IHPA’s ability to undertake benchmarking work to better align the price set for medical devices on the PL for private providers with those paid for in competitive markets such as those in the public hospital system. IHPA require industry data before the 31 October 2021. In the event that device level data from industry is not available, IHPA will need to rely on other sources of data, such as the public hospital National Hospital Cost Data Collection (NHCDC).
IHPA will release a consultation paper on the benchmarking methodology on 6 September 2021 for public consultation. This will outline IHPA’s preferred methodology and invite stakeholders to provide comments or propose alternate methods. It will also be an opportunity for suppliers and sponsors to propose differences between the public and private sector markets that IHPA should take into account when determining the benchmark public cost for prostheses. The consultation paper will be published on IHPA’s website.
MTAA and Ausbiotech are also considering how data submissions can be coordinated. Members should contact their respective organisation for further details.