Utilisation of Services

Hospital accommodation benefits paid by private health insurers for episodes in freestanding day surgeries in the year ending March 2011 equaled $749 per bed day and $617 per episode. Hospital accommodation benefits paid for public hospitals during the same time period equaled $337 per bed day, and $1,343 per episode.

For private hospitals, benefits paid equaled $1,100 per bed day, or $2,457 per episode. Overall, the average benefit paid per bed day for a privately insured patient was $1,076, or $517 per episode.

Selected statistics from the AHIA Private Health Insurance Industry Statistics Quarterly Report for teh period ending 31 March 2011 are presented below:

Hospital Services

• Of each hospital episode, an average of $2,024 per episode was accounted for by accommodation costs, $458 was accounted for by medical service costs, and $413 per episode was accounted for by prostheses services.
• The total private health insurance benefits paid per insured person was $1,151. For hospital benefits paid per insured person, the figure was $948.
• The average length of stay for a public hospital episode was 4.2 days, and for a private hospital episode, 2.6 days. Overall, the average length of stay for an episode in any hospital was 2.7 days.
• The average length of stay for an overnight public hospital episode was 7.1 days. For an overnight private hospital episode, the average length of stay was 5.1 days.
• There were 48 free-standing day surgery bed days utilized during the year ending March 2011 per 1,000 insured persons, with 221 public bed days and 620 private bed days for the same. Overall, 888 hospital bed days were used per 1,000 insured persons during the period.

Allied Health Services

• The average benefit paid for an allied health service was $46, with the average cost per service at $102. The benefits paid by private health insurers for allied health services represented 47.0% of the costs of these services.
• The average benefit paid per dental service was $56, with $63 being paid per optical service, $29 per physiotherapy service, $30 per podiatry service, and $25 per chiropractic service.

Tags: allied health services, benefits, costs, hospital services, Mar 2011, services, utilisation,