ALISON VERHOEVEN Chief Executive AHHA
Grassroots is about value, affordability and outcomes
Welcome to the October 2019 issue of The Health Advocate. Our ‘grassroots’ theme for this issue is about localised health services, or healthcare ‘at the coalface’. Examples within these pages include care in
What was concerning was that, as it stands at the moment, the proposals for measuring healthcare performance are all about yesterday and not tomorrow. The data are instead heavily ‘input-centric’—they are about looking backwards and counting numbers
emergency departments, mental healthcare
of consultations, health system costs, numbers of
services, GP urgent care networks, hip fracture
admissions for condition X, numbers
rehab services, culturally responsive healthcare,
of consultations bulk-billed, and so on.
end-of-life care services, diabetes education and
These facts are obviously important, but are
assessment, GP services, and specialist services
certainly not about measuring outcomes of
in public hospitals.
treatments, as reported by patients as well as
Many factors have an impact on how healthcare is delivered, but ultimately the effectiveness of
health professionals. We need to collect information that leads us
such services is measured according to their value,
to procedures proving to be of good value, and
affordability and the outcomes achieved.
to situations where patients are getting the best
And, when assessing effectiveness according to these qualities, we want the patient voice,
outcomes at an affordable cost. In terms of ‘grassroots’, we need to collect and
the patient view, to be an integral part of the
disseminate data that show, for example:
assessment—in addition to healthcare providers,
• how often prescription renewals attract a
clinicians and administrators. It was for this reason that I had some concerns with the August 2019 release of a new online Australian Health Performance Framework by the
doctor’s fee when they could have been filled at less cost and at no detriment to the patient as part of, say, a package of ongoing care • the savings and outcomes that occur when
Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW).
using Practice Nurses to give injections instead
The Framework is described as ‘a tool to support
of doctors
reporting on Australia’s health and healthcare performance’.
• which treatments are still in use and heavily subsidised by Medicare when more effective evidence-based treatments are available
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The Health Advocate • OCTOBER 2019
