Some public hospitals spend between two and three times as much as others to perform procedures such as appendix removals, knee replacements and births, according to a new report which suggests wide variation in efficiency between hospitals across the nation.
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The report from the National Health Performance Authority shows that the average cost of removing a patient's appendix ranged from $4600 to $10,100 among major metropolitan hospitals, while the average cost of a baby delivery, not a caesarean birth, ranged from $2200 to $6500, and the average cost of a knee replacement ranged from $10,600 to $29,300 among the same group of hospitals.
The authority said its report, to be released on Thursday, broke new ground by developing a method of comparing hospitals costs which fairly accounted for the fact that some hospitals performed more complicated operations or saw patients with more severe illnesses. The authority has excluded from its analysis costs that are not comparable across states and territories and those that relate to property, plant and equipment.
"For the first time comparable information about the cost of patient care is available for more than 80 of Australia's largest public hospitals. It is up to each hospital to see how they compare with those that are similar and use this new information as a starting point to learn more about their efficiencies," authority chief executive Diane Watson said.
The report shows that the most efficient hospitals are in Victoria, which is home to the five hospitals with the lowest costs in Australia: Maroondah (East Ringwood) Hospital, Sunshine Hospital, The Northern Hospital (Epping), Dandenong Hospital and Royal Melbourne Hospital.
The most expensive hospitals were Canberra Hospital and Calvary Public Hospital in the ACT, Sir Charles Gardiner Hospital in Western Australia, and Logan Hospital in Queensland.
Australian Healthcare and Hospitals Association chief executive Alison Verhoeven noted the report was based on data from 2011-12, which was prior to the introduction of "activity-based funding" arrangements which had led to a reduction in cost growth, and a reduction in cost variation between hospitals.
Ms Verhoeven said given the positive impact of "activity-based funding," the Abbott government should reconsider its decision to scrap that funding model from 2017-18.
1. EXAMPLE OF COST FROM EACH STATE
Cost of an average hospital treatment
The Canberra Hospital (ACT): $6500
Prince of Wales Hospital (NSW): $5400
Royal Darwin Hospital (NT): $5500
The Prince Charles Hospital (QLD): $5700
Royal Adelaide Hospital (SA): $5000
Launceston General Hospital (TAS): $4600
The Alfred (VIC): $4500
Fremantle Hospital (WA): $5400
2. HIGHEST AND LOWEST COSTS
Average cost in large metropolitan hospitals
Highest: $6400 at Rockingham General Hospital, WA
Lowest: $3200 at Sandringham Hospital, Victoria
Overall average: $4300
Average cost in major regional hospitals
Highest: $5300 at Hervey Bay Hospital, Queensland
Lowest: $3600 at Latrobe Regional Hospital, Victoria
Overall average: $4400
3. COST OF WELL-KNOWN PROCEDURES
Cost of appendix removal without complications
Ranging from $4600 to $10,100
Average: $6300
Treatment of heart failure with complications
Ranging from $7500 to $24,800
Average: $11,800
Caesarean birth without complications
Ranging from $5500 to $15,300
Average: $8800