Private vs Public Hospital Re-admission Rates
15 February 2011An Australian Government Productivity Commission Report released early in 2010, found that the Private Sector delivers shorter waiting times, shorter lengths of stay and higher productivity, and most importantly it provides a safer health care environment, including lower overall infection rates than the public sector.
An AHIA analysis of the Australian Council on Health Care Standards has also revealed that readmission to a public hospital is three times more likely than re-admission to the private hospital sector. Additionally, as the table below demonstrates using a comparison with the published Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) there is up to a 65% difference in the rate of unplanned/unexpected readmissions to Public versus Private Hospitals in 2008/2009. Procedures include Knee replacement; Hip replacement; Tonsillectomy & adenoidectomy; Hysterectomy; Prostatectomy; Cataract extraction; and, Appendectomy.
Table shows the Unplanned/Unexpected readmission rate within public versus private hospitals 2008/2009
| Unplanned/unexpected readmissions within 28 days as per NHA definitions | |||
| Public vs Private Hospitals 2008/09 | |||
| Rate of Unplanned/unexpected readmissions per 100 separations | |||
| Public Hospitals* | Private Hospitals** | Difference | |
| Knee replacement | 2.4 | 1.6 | -35% |
| Hip replacement | 1.8 | 1.3 | -28% |
| Tonsillectomy & adenoidectomy | 2.5 | 1.0 | -62% |
| Hysterectomy | 2.8 | 1.7 | -38% |
| Prostatectomy | 2.9 | 2.3 | -19% |
| Cataract extraction | 0.5 | 0.2 | -53% |
| Appendectomy | 2.2 | 1.4 | -38% |
Source: * AIHW Hospital Statistics, **AHIA Industry aggregated Hospital Casemix Protocol data
There are also a number of websites available to assist the consumer in making positive health choices.
The Australian Health Insurance Association (AHIA) supports the use of credible and reliable health literacy information by consumers to allow consumers to have a say in their health care outcomes. There are a number of websites available to assist consumers on their choice of treatments including:
HealthInsite coordinated by the Australian Department of Health and Ageing. HealthInsite is an Australian health information service that aims to improve the health of Australians by providing easy access to quality information about human health. Pages on this site are accessed through an Australian quality assessment process to ensure they provide current and reliable information.
Better Health Channel coordinated by the Victorian Government. The Better Health Channel provides health and medical information to help individuals and their communities improve their health and wellbeing. The information provided is quality assured and reliable, regularly updated and easy to understand.
Product Recalls Australia coordinated by the Therapeutic Goods Australia. The site enhances consumer safety by providing current TGA product recall (including pharmacy and health) information based on notifications provided from the Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasurer.
Australian Orthopaedic Association National Joint Replacement Registry funded by the Department of Health and Ageing and coordinated by the Australian Orthopaedic Association. The purpose of the Registry is to define, improve and maintain the quality of care of individuals receiving joint replacement surgery by collecting a defined minimum data set that enables outcomes to be determined on the basis of patient characteristics, prosthesis type and features, method of prosthesis fixation and surgical technique used.
Australian Commission on Safety & Quality in Health Care (ACSQHC) governed by the Australian Department of Health and Ageing. This site provides information including the recommended nationally agreed standards for safety and quality improvement in Australian health care.
Australian Safety and Efficacy Register of New Interventional Procedures – Surgical (ASERNIP-S) is a program of the Royal Australian College of Surgeons. ASERNIP-S aims to improve the quality of healthcare by disseminating evidence-based research to surgeons, healthcare providers and consumers. ASERNIP-S provides specific access surgical procedure safety information and their mission is to provide quality and timely assessments of new and emerging surgical technologies and techniques. The ASERNIP-S website features a consumer friendly information section of regularly updated reviews.
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