The Independent Hospital Pricing Authority (IHPA)
IHPA is an independent government agency established by the Commonwealth as part of the National Health Reform Act 2011. IHPA was established to contribute to significant reforms to improve Australian public hospitals. A major component of these reforms is the implementation of national Activity Based Funding (ABF) for Australian public hospitals.
Classifications
Provide the health care sector with a nationally consistent method of classifying all types of patients, their treatment and associated costs in order to provide better management, measurement and funding.
Data
Each patient episode needs to be counted. This includes inpatient admissions, emergency department presentations and outpatient appointments as well as a range of mental health and rehabilitation services.
Costing
A representative number of patient episodes are costed. This information is used for developing the classification system and for the pricing model.
Pricing
Pricing models determine how much is paid for an average patient while recognising those factors which increase the cost of care which may not be picked up in the classification system.
