Aboriginal patients with chronic disease are having $1,700 too little spent on them, according to a study published today in the Medical Journal of Australia.
The study was conducted at a health service in a remote Aboriginal community between July 2010 and May 2011. It analysed 542 patients with either diabetes or chronic kidney disease to examine the costs and barriers of systematic care for these conditions.
The researchers found a projected funding gap of nearly $200,000 by the local primary care service, while high staff turnover and acute care workload also hindered best-practice in chronic disease care.
Read more at Centre for Remote Health