Current Initiatives

Issues and initiatives addressed recently include – for your interest: 

 

  • Changes to BUPA’s medical gap cover  – Impact of the private day hospital sector – Bupa’s decision to cease no-gap medical cover for their members seeking treatment in non- contracted  hospitals raises many concerns for consumers and private day and overnight  hospitals.  Consumers electing to use their private Bupa insurance after entering a public hospital for emergency treatment will no longer be covered under the no-gap medical cover that they may have on their Bupa policy.  It is relevant to note that 37% of day hospitals (i.e., over 126), and 8% of private overnight hospitals do not have agreements with BUPA (information obtained from Bupa’s website).  There are concerns regarding Bupa’s future strategy for  private health care in Australia.  These concerns were reflected in Day Hospitals Australia’s submission to the 2017 Senate enquiry where it was advised that “some of the major health funds are advising their members to go to another hospital rather than attend where their doctor has organised their admission, advising the member that the particular hospital does not have a contract and therefore they will not be covered for their scheduled treatment at that hospital”.   Day Hospitals Australia applauds the actions of the  Minister for Health, The Hon. Greg Hunt MP, in referring the recent actions of Bupa to the Private Health Insurance Ombudsman.  We are monitoring and seeking advice on this issue.
  • Day Hospitals Australia | 2017: A Year in Review – Click here to view 2017: A Year in Review document which outlines the activity, achievements and focus of Day Hospitals Australia for the day hospital sector in 2017, issued in January 2018.
  • Type C procedures – Day Hospitals Australia has collaboration with the AMA, RACS, ASPS and ACD to raise concerns with the Department of Health (DOH) about the certification process for type C procedures as a consequence of the initial concern over the re-banding of three skin lesion item, numbers from Type B to Type C  Day Hospitals Australia is pleased to report that the DOH has now reviewed the certification process for type C procedures issuing document PHI 37/17 on 19 July 2017 “Clarification of Roles in the Certification process”.  These rules do not provide for any clinical assessment by private health insurers with respect to the medical practitioner’s reasons for requiring the patient to have their procedure in a hospital.  Day Hospitals Australia, at the request of the DOH, conducted a follow up survey in September 2017  to monitor compliance of the certification process.
  • Private Health Ministerial Advisory Committee (PHMAC) – Day Hospitals Australia is represented on PHMAC.  Shortly after the meeting the summary will be available on the Department of Health website
  • Prosthesis List Advisory Committee (PLAC) –  Day Hospitals is represented on this committee.  Summaries of these meeting can be found http://www.health.gov.au/internet/main/publishing.nsf/content/health-privatehealth-plac.  Members are encouraged to provide feedback to the Prosthesis Google Group,  members wishing to provide feedback can join the google group by contacting  Julie van Lierop julie.vanlierop@dayhospitalsaustralia.net.au
  • AS/NZS 4187:2014 – Taskforce held its first meeting 20 July 2017 and will provide feedback to the  proposal for a revision of AS/NZS 4187, being developed by Standards  Australia.  Any final proposal to revise the document will only be approved subject to a clearly defined scope, that is supported by a broad range of stakeholder from both office based and larger health care service organisations.
  • NSQHS Standards Steering Committee – Day Hospitals Australia has continued to be represented on this committee in relation to the development of Version 2 of the NSQHS Standards, a draft of which is available on the Commission website.  The next meeting will be held on 28 September 2017.
  • Minister for Health – dialogue has continued on an ongoing basis with the Federal Minister for Health and his Senior advisor on key issues impacting the  Day Hospital sector. Day Hospitals Australia has a meeting with the Hon Greg Hunt, Minister for Health, Minister for Sport on 1 August 2017.
  • SA licensing legislation – meetings have been held with the South Australian Shadow Minister for Health, regarding recent developments with respect to the Health Care (Private Day Procedures Centres) Amendment Bill 2017 which would remove the local anaesthetic criteria form the day hospital licensing requirements.  Further discussion has been held with the ANZCA and the SA branch of the AMA regarding this issue.  A meeting was held with the ANZCA on 31 July where there was agreement on the advice for the South Australian Shadow Minister for Health.
  • Day Hospitals Australia 2018 Conference – ‘Rapid changes in healthcare – is your hospital keeping up?’ on 19-21 September at the Pullman Melbourne Albert Park.  More information can be seen on our dedicated conference website.
  • Ambulance Victoria Cost Model – Day Hospitals Australia continues to pursue  this matter on behalf of Victorian members, feedback has been sent to the Victorian  Minister for Health and the Shadow Minister for Health.
  •  Process for the Development of a Day Hospital Are you thinking of building a day hospital?  It is recognised that the setting up and the development of a Day Hospital can be a challenging task.  Where do I start? Day Hospitals Australia  is pleased to provide an invaluable paper that outlines the process in a staged format to support those wishing to develop a Day Hospital.  Please contact the Day Hospitals Australia Staff for a copy of this document at a very reasonable price of $115.00 incl. GST (available free to current members).