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Our people
Under the National Health Reform Act 2011, the Independent Hospital Pricing Authority's (IHPA) Chief Executive Officer (CEO) is a statutory office holder and reports to the Pricing Authority, which reports to the Minister for Health.
The CEO is responsible for the effective delivery of IHPA’s work program and supports the Pricing Authority to fulfil its functions.
Two sections support the core activities of IHPA, including:
- Policy and Classification
- Data Analytics
The Executive Director, Policy and Classification and Executive Director, Data Analytics respectively manage the two sections under the organisational structure.
James Downie
James Downie was appointed as the IHPA CEO on 1 September 2016.
Prior to this James was Executive Director, Activity Based Funding, leading the teams responsible for delivering the classification, costing and pricing functions of IHPA as well as the data acquisition activities.
He previously held roles with the Victorian Department of Health and the Royal Children’s Hospital Melbourne, and various technical and operational roles in the resources industry.
Joanne Fitzgerald
Joanne Fitzgerald has worked at IHPA since 2012, and currently holds the position of Executive Director, Policy and Classification. Prior to this, she was Director, AR-DRG Development and was responsible for developing and managing the Australian Refined Diagnosis Related Groups classification system.
Joanne holds a degree in Bachelor of Applied Science (Health Information Management) from the University of Sydney. She has more than 15 years’ experience as a health information manager working with health classifications in both the public and private health sector. Joanne has worked as a clinical coder, manager of medical record departments and at the NSW Ministry of Health.
Julia Hume
Julia Hume is currently the Executive Director of Data Analytics and has worked at IHPA since 2013. As the Executive Director, Data Analytics, Julia leads the teams responsible for the functions of costing, pricing, data acquisition and IT infrastructure.
Julia has worked extensively on the National Hospital Cost Data Collection for both the public and private sectors. She holds a degree in Bachelor of Applied Science (Health Information Management) and a Masters in Political Economy from Sydney University. She has previously held roles across the health sector including working in health insurance and cancer research.
Julia has worked in the international development sector in several post-conflict countries.