Waiting for emergency care, specialist appointments and “elective” procedures is not only inconvenient and frustrating, it can also be painful and detrimental to your health and well-being.
Patients often rely on their GP to make the choice of specialist for them through the referral process with little or no discussion of prices.
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Why is it so difficult to find out exactly how much it’s going to cost to have that suspicious mole removed or to be admitted to hospital for that colonoscopy or hip replacement?
The solution is not necessarily more of the same, or more funding.
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In a time of growing populations, hospitals must guarantee access, ensure quality, minimise the chances of anything going wrong, and do it all within the available budget. So they need to change.
The 2016 increases range from 3.8% for the Doctor’s Health Fund, to just under 9% for CUA health Fund.
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Price in health care is a squishy concept. Different words relating to cost – charge, price and out-of-pocket cost – all have different meanings.
A snapshot of 2015: health reviews, Health Check series, thalidomide series, Medicare versus private health insurance.
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This was the year of the health review – mental health care, Medicare, private health insurance, the pharmacy industry … and the list goes on. But how much movement was there on policy?
Pressure point. Smarter GP surgeries can lighten the burden on the rest of the NHS.
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Chronic diseases are responsible for nine out of ten deaths in Australia, and for much of the public health expenditure that’s causing governments so much concern.
Overdoing it? Pills and thrills and bellyaches.
Jessica Lucia
When one in six hospitalisations of older patients are due to harm from their medicines, then something is going seriously wrong.
The government has acknowledged that just sending people off for a set number of psychology sessions is an inadequate response, particularly for people with more complex conditions.
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The reforms announced today have the potential to change this appalling situation. But ultimately they should be judged on the outcomes they achieve for patients.
Chronic pain is a complex health issue.
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Pain management is one of the most neglected aspects of health care; our failure to adequately address chronic pain is a major driver of its economic and social burden.
The scheme would be mandatory but consumers would be able to choose their preferred provider.
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Current incentives used to recruit more teachers to work in rural and regional schools aren’t working. But could the health sector offer up some possible solutions?
Health Minister Sussan Ley wants people to be able to access their medical data using an app.
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Although there are significant challenges to making data within My Health Record useful in the management of a person’s health, the move to make it more open is positive.
Australia’s century-old federation is under strain.
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If Australia’s new prime minister wishes to lead a successful 21st-century government, he must tackle the rise in chronic disease and use data to constantly improve the system.
A new approach should include social supports, such as living skills and assistance obtaining housing and employment.
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On closing the asylums, Australia failed to invest in an alternative model of community mental health care. So there are few alternatives between the GP surgery and the hospital emergency department.
Ineffective care exposes patients to complications and side-effects and waste precious health care resources.
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Honorary Enterprise Professor, School of Population and Global Health, and Department of General Practice and Primary Care, The University of Melbourne