Acute health services under casemix : a case of mixed priorities
Overview
This report covers the management of acute health services funded under casemix. Audit findings contained in this Report are intended to provide value to the Department of Human Services and the acute health industry in terms of assisting in the achievement of high level goals relating to accessibility, responsiveness, performance and efficient management, and protecting and caring for those patients at risk. In examining issues of potential risk on a Statewide basis, this Report provides the Department with an opportunity to complement the many continuous improvement initiatives already in place both at a central level and throughout the network and hospital systems. Audit acknowledges, however, that there are many extraneous factors, such as funding constraints, fewer people having private insurance cover and an ageing population, that impact in varying ways on the delivery of effective acute health services. Given these circumstances, the audit was directed at providing the Parliament, the health care industry and the public with an independent assessment at a macro level of the way in which certain aspects of acute health services and the Government’s associated major policy reforms (i.e. the introduction of substantial reductions to hospital budgets in 1992–93 and 1993–94, the requirement for productivity savings to be achieved and the implementation of casemix funding as from 1 July 1993) have been managed.