” We’re giving Health Ministers an early Christmas gift, over the past nine months Australian health leaders mapped out how to transform our healthcare system into a fit for purpose 21st century system that will meet the needs and expectations of Australians.

‘Healthy people, healthy systems is a solid blueprint with a range of short, medium and long term recommendations on how to reorientate our healthcare system to focus on patient outcomes and value rather than throughput and vested interests.”

Australian Healthcare and Hospitals Association (AHHA) Chief Executive Alison Verhoeven. see Part 1 Below

Download Healthy people, healthy systems  ahha_blueprint_2017

 “For Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, institutional racism in hospitals and health services fundamentally underpins racial inequalities in health.

It forms a barrier to accessing healthcare, and must be acknowledged and addressed in order to realise health equality.

A matrix has been developed for identifying, measuring and monitoring institutional racism. Simple and cost-effective to administer, research to date shows its value as both an internal and external assessment tool “

(Marrie & Marrie 2014). See Section 2 Performance information and reporting

“ The need for integrated care, workforce development and reform and a reorientation to primary and preventive care were central recommendations.

We would welcome more performance reporting on such measures as patient reported health outcomes and experiences of care and deeper examination of how that care will be delivered in the future and by whom.

“Prevention funding needs to be increased and to be explicitly tied to evidence-based interventions.

We strongly support many of the aims of the report Healthy people, healthy systems.”

CEO of the Consumers Health Forum, Leanne Wells See Part 2 Below .

” Great blueprint by AHHA  for a Post-2020 National Health Agreement. Fantastic to see it aligning with PHAA’s key principles of universal healthcare, a holistic view of health and well being, and health equity. ”

Public Health Association Australia

Part 1 AHHA Press Release

‘In 2018 Health Ministers and First Ministers will negotiate and agree new public hospital funding arrangements—if Ministers are committed to a healthy Australia supported by the best possible healthcare system they simply need to direct their health departments to begin rolling out the recommendations found in the blueprint.

‘Health Ministers must be more ambitious than agreeing what public hospital funding arrangements will look like after 2020. The health sector is adamant it’s time we move our system toward value-based care and away from more of the same and tinkering around the edges.

‘To do this we outline four steps with recommendations on governance arrangements, data and reporting that drives intelligent system design, health workforce reform and sustainable funding that is dependable yet innovative.

‘An independent national health authority distinct from Commonwealth, state and territory health departments  reporting directly to the Council of Australian Governments (COAG) or the COAG Health Council would help take the politics and finger pointing out of health reform and allow for a nationally unified and regionally controlled health system.

‘Requiring all health service providers delivering government funded or reimbursed services to supply data on patient outcomes and other service provision dimensions will better inform system performance and help us move toward publicly available outcomes data that will empower patients to make informed choices about treatment options and providers.

‘A national health workforce reform strategy is required that goes beyond the supply and location of health practitioners and considers roles and responsibilities needed to achieve a health workforce that is flexible, competent, working to the top of their scope of practice, and actively participating in the design and delivery of health services.

‘Maintaining current Commonwealth funding levels for public hospitals, including the growth formula, will provide sustainable and appropriate support, but we need to be more innovative in our move toward value-based care. In the short term, trialling a mixed funding formula with a 25% component for achieved health outcomes relating to the top 4 chronic diseases is a start.

‘It’s time to step out of our comfort zones and transform fragmented healthcare in Australia. The blueprint’s recommendations are a good place to start. We thank the many health leaders, clinicians and consumers who have contributed to this work.’

For more information on AHHA, see: http://ahha.asn.au

To read the Healthy people, healthy systems. Strategies for outcome-focused and value-based healthcare: a blueprint for a post-2020 national health agreement, see: http://ahha.asn.au/blueprint

The Consumers Health Forum welcomes the Australian Healthcare and Hospitals Association’s blueprint for a national health agreement as a much-need stimulus for a serious rethink of Australia’s health system.

“We strongly support many of the aims of the report Healthy people, healthy systems,”

the CEO of the Consumers Health Forum, Leanne Wells said.

“In too many corners of Australia’s health system, whether it be Medicare, primary care, prevention or health insurance, there is a lack of rigorous evaluation and less than optimal use of available data and knowledge to improve services.

“We back AHHA’s call for Australia to re-orientate the healthcare system over the next 10 years by enabling outcomes-focused and value-based health care,” Ms Wells said.

“We agree that the national hospitals agreement requires reform, that it, should be negotiated for the longer-term and that we need much better coordination and integration to promote consumer-centred health care.

“While there is undoubtedly a pressing need for a more nationally cohesive leadership and administration of health, we are not sure a national health authority as prescribed by AHHA would achieve this.  It could risk imposing another layer of management and decision-making with no certainty of any benefit.

“On the other hand, moves to greater regional coordination of health services, is the best way to achieve integrated locally responsive services. We know that integration is best achieved when decisions about how services are configured and organised are taken as close to the point of care delivery as possible by people who know and understand local services and need.  Joint planning, funds pooling and joint commissioning by PHNs and LHDs should be actively explored.

“We would urge governments to note the consistency of advice coming from Australian health leaders about how we can strengthen and improve our health system.

CHF presented an Issues Paper containing our ideas for health system improvements to Minister Hunt at our Consumer and Community Roundtable in August, see:

https://chf.org.au/sites/default/files/docs/chf_ministerial_roundatble_issues_paper_final.pdf

“The need for integrated care, workforce development and reform and a reorientation to primary and preventive care were central recommendations.

“We would welcome more performance reporting on such measures as patient reported health outcomes and experiences of care and deeper examination of how that care will be delivered in the future and by whom.

“Prevention funding needs to be increased and to be explicitly tied to evidence-based interventions.

“AHHA’s chair, Dr Deborah Cole, states that if there is a genuine commitment to delivering patient-centred care that improves health outcomes, consumers must be genuinely engaged in co-designing services and how the entire health system functions across hospitals, primary healthcare and prevention activities.

“We fully agree and hope all health leaders would actively support that rationale.  Only when we involve consumer insights in planning and evaluation will achieve better health, better experience of care and better value care” Ms Wells said.

The Healthy people, healthy systems report is at:

http://ahha.asn.au/sites/default/files/docs/policy-issue/ahha_blueprint_2017.pdf