What has driven acute public hospital expenditure growth in South Australia? An analysis of the relative importance of major expenditure drivers between 2006-07 and 2017-18

ConclusionOver the 12 years to 2017-18, real growth in average clinical salaries was a more important driver of real growth in per capita total acute public hospital expenditure than rates of hospital utilisation. This would be facilitated by improvements in the scope, accuracy, quality and consistency of published national hospital data.What is known about the topic?Public hospital expenditure is one of the largest and fastest growing areas of government expenditure in Australia. Policy narratives often centre around demand pressures from an increasingly older, overweight, and chronically ill population. Comparatively little attention has been paid to the influence of increases in real input costs within the Australian context.What does this paper add?Real salary growth has been a major driver of acute public hospital recurrent expenditure growth in SA, whereas hospital utilisation rates have played a minor role.What are the implications for practitioners?A clearer understanding of the main drivers of acute public hospital expenditure growth and the resulting benefits to population health is needed to guide the efficient and sustainable use of scarce healthcare resources.PMID:34749884 | DOI:10.1071/AH21045

Source: Australian Health Review - November 9, 2021 Category: Hospital Management Authors: Allison Larg John R Moss Source Type: research