Australia: Managing demand for acute care

The Australian Healthcare and Hospitals Association (AHHA) has convened a policy working group to explore the critical issue of demand on public acute care services, with a particular focus on the effects seen in the emergency department. This paper identifies some of the key issues related to access and demand in acute care services in Australia, primarily in public hospitals.

As a result, the report makes several recommendations that concern:

Capacity building with direct funding and workforce recruitment is essential to allow system reform and provide adequate care whilst this is achieved

Improved access to responsive, individually-tailored health services wherever consumers interact with the health sector

Funding models that allow for greater flexibility regarding how and where services are provided, rather than being based predominantly on a hospital model

Improved integration and use of electronic systems for secure communication between GPs, aged care providers, public and private health services, and patients

In some cases, admission can occur directly to the relevant hospital ward rather than via emergency departments, provided hospitals have the capacity in terms of bed numbers and staffing, and a process to manage these types of admissions alongside internal hospital admissions

Expanded multi-disciplinary teams and responsibilities to better share the workload and ensure the right mix of workforce to achieve the best results for patients, particularly for chronic disease management

Proper modeling, evaluation and systems-based research of current structures and processes is required to assess the efficacy of interventions and inform sustainability and future practice

Appropriate use of performance indicators, targets and system redesign to achieve capacity gain in the health system

Medical assessment capacity needs to be available near or within mental health hospitals/facilities to reduce the need for clients to present and be assessed for medical issues at another location (hospital ED) and then transferred back to the mental health facility/hospital

To download the document:
http://www.aushealthcare.com.au/documents/publications/174/AcuteCareDemand.pdf




 

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