The Productivity Commission has released a case study report on the management of chronic health conditions across Australia.
Productivity Commissioner, Stephen King said the report, Innovations in care for chronic health conditions, was the second in a series of case studies on productivity reforms across Australia.
“This Report is about innovative approaches to managing chronic health conditions,” Mr King said.
“The initiatives included in this Report offer practical examples of preventive health innovations and provide insights into overcoming entrenched barriers to implementation of health reform,” he said.
“Across Australia, innovations in healthcare are improving the lives of people with chronic health conditions such as diabetes and arthritis.”
Mr King said nearly ten million Australians, or around 40 per cent, lived with chronic health conditions however, successful innovative programs only benefited a small fraction of those people.
“There are many simple and inexpensive innovations that help people avoid hospital and enjoy a better quality of life,” he said.
“But these innovations are localised — limited to one State or even one town; people only get access if they live in the right place.”
He said the Report highlighted examples of services that successfully managed chronic health conditions.
Mr King said this included initiatives that sent friendly SMS reminders to people to monitor their symptoms and make healthy choices, as well as programs that rearranged health service workflows so better support could be offered.
“Half of all hospital admissions are related to chronic health conditions,” the Commissioner said.
“One of the programs the report looked at lowered admissions by 25 per cent, by keeping in touch with patients and helping them address problems before they needed hospitalisation,” he said.
The Commission’s 206-page Report can be accessed at this PS News link.
