Discuss About The Understanding Australian Health Care System.

The healthcare system of Australia is a multifaceted network of settings and services. It involves a number of private and public providers, participants, funding arrangements as well as regulatory mechanisms. Australia, however, has the most accessible, affordable and all-inclusive healthcare systems. It has the well-recognized health care systems all over the World.  This paper, therefore, provides an extensive overview of Australian health care system and how it operates.

The land mass of Australia is nearly the same size as the USA or Western Europe. The number of people who live in the cities is roughly 80 percent. A large number of individuals has resulted in large regions having small, unpopulated or scattered settlements. Australia is recognized as having the best health system in the World. It provides the best health services for its people which has largely increased their lifespan in different ways ( Willis et al., 2009). The Department of Health, as well as Ageing, plays the role of promoting good health while ensuring all Australians have an access to health and family services such as;

• Pharmaceutical and Medicare and
• disability programs
• children’s and family services
• community and aged care services
• healthcare and hospital funding
• health services for Torres Strait Islanders and Aboriginal
• public health initiatives
• Emergency amenities for people involved in the crisis.

The Commonwealth has also created a broad policy of financing and leadership in healthcare subjects. Besides, the Commonwealth pays attention to the fields of public health, national information management as well as the research. The states and territories on the other side are mainly accountable for the public section health services delivery (Leahy et al.,2017).  They are also responsible for the regulation of health staff within the private and public sectors. Ideally, the governance, regulation, and coordination of Australian health care services are complex. They are the shared responsibilities among all levels of the government.

Delivery and planning of the services are divided between the non-government and government sectors. The local and state of Australia provide public-sector health care services. Private-sector health care service providers involve the medical as well as private hospitals practitioners within the private services ( Handbook, 2107). Thee territories and states besides provides psychiatric and public acute hospital services including dental health, school health, child and maternal health as well as the environmental health                                                                                                                                                                                    

The consumers, the non-government segment and all levels of the government have some duty of administering, funding and providing health care for older persons. The Commonwealth on the other side regulates and finances the residential aged care. However, the care is mainly provided by the non-government section such as churches and for-profit givers. The states, Commonwealth, and territories jointly administer and fund the community care such as home help, delivered meals and transport. Besides, the Local government plays a significant role in the delivering of services.The services are offered through giving free hygiene and sanitation, water quality monitoring and food safety ( Handbook, 2107).  The concept here is much based on politics, with the view of water shortage and recycled water across the world. In the year 2013 and 2014, the spending of health in Australia was roughly estimated at 155 billion dollars, more than the 2/3 that came from the government. However, the healthcare expenditure has been growing progressively from the year to another in the recent era. The data reveals that the latest 2years of progress have been quite slow.

Private and Public Providers

The Australian government, territory and state government coordinates the public health care systems. On the other hand, relevant health department and health minister has the role of managing the territory, state and individual health systems (Leahy et al.,2017). Ministers of health are referred as the Council of Health. The health council falls under the Australian Governments Council which is the highest intergovernmental forum within Australia. Besides, the Health Council membership also involves the New Zealand Health Minister as well as the Government Minister for Veterans’ Affairs. The role of Health Council is to offer a forum for cooperation in regards to health matters such as secondary and primary care. The health council also considers boosting cost pressures (Duckett et al., 2015). The Health Council gets support from the Health Ministers’ Advisory Council of Australia that further comprises of the leaders of all territory and state health departments, Government Health department of Australia, Government veterans’ affairs unit and the New Zealand health sector

1. Primary health care

Primary health care entails care that is not hospital visit related. It is usually the first connection a person has with the health organization. It pertains array of activities, for example, promotion of health, early intervention, prevention of diseases, how to treat chronic conditions and there management (Naccarella et al.,2017).  Services offered by primary health care differ, from health promotion activities and prevention to management and treatment of the disease. The team of health professional in healthcare systems offers community-based, patient-centered care. Due to this, primary health care is perceived as the best locale for management and prevention of acute and difficult health conditions. General practices, allied health practices, community health centers and communication technology, for example, video consultation and telehealth, are settings where primary health care can be delivered. Allied health experts are trained professionals who neither dentists, doctor or nurses. They mainly help in managing mental and physical health, through services such as rehabilitation, treatment, and diagnosis.

1. Secondary health services

Primary health care works other larger system that offers other services and sectors; they are considered as a leeway for broader health systems (primary health sector does not operate alone). People can be referred from one primary care service to another, then from primary into secondary service and more other health services, and vice versa (Dawson et al., 2017) When a patient is directed by a primary care practitioner to secondary care, the service is offered by a specialist.

1. Hospitals

Regulatory Mechanisms

In Australia, both private and public hospitals provide all hospital services. The study shows there were 612 private and 747 public hospitals adding up to 1,359 hospitals in 2013 to 2014.Currently, the hospitals have increased in number. Hospital emergency units are the most critical elements of all hospitals within health care system (Hay et al., 2107). The emergency health departments are designed to offer care for individuals with an urgent need in regards to health. An OECD report says that in the year 2014 and 2015, around 7.4 million presentations in emergency departments were from public hospitals. This shows that more than 20,000 individuals needed emergency care every day.

The World Health Organization describes the health system as all undertakings whose main goal is to restore, promote and maintain health.  Ideally, a good health care system should deliver quality services to every person in need of them. However, the organization of services differs around the globe ( Handbook, 2107). Some of the common factors that in influences health system include; a vigorous financing mechanism, adequately paid and well-trained workforce, well-maintained facilities, Regulation, technologies, reliable info on which to build policies and decisions as well as logistics to provide quality medicines.

Australian health care system is considered as a complex web of both private and public providers. There are shared duties for funding and other things involving every level of the government. However, non-government sectors, individuals, and private health insurers pay for some services on their own. As noted, health services are offered by a number of organizations as health professionals comprising of nurses, medical practitioners and allied (Harris et al., 2017). Other health professionals include clinics, non-government and government agencies. Therefore, when all these providers are involved, they deliver an extensive range of services. Some of these services include preventive and public health services within the community, primary health care, hospital-based- treatment, rehabilitation, emergency services as well as palliative care.

The services are however supported by different agencies, for instance, statistical and research bodies that give information concerning the disease prevention, monitoring, detection, diagnosis and associated policy. Other agencies comprise of advocacy groups and consumers that contribute to policy development and public debate as well as universities that contribute to the health professionals training (Leahy et al., 2017).Community and voluntary agencies and organizations on the other side make health and educational programs, funding and providing extensive health services as well as managing voluntary care.

Funding Arrangements

The regulation of health system is under the care of Australian government. The regulatory roles of the government involve overseeing therapeutic goods, quality, and safety of pharmaceutical and appliances. The territory and state governments on the other hand registers and certifies private hospitals. Besides, they have a legislature for the management of public hospitals.  The certifying of pharmacy ownership and premises is also the role of the territories as well as the states. As if not enough, territory and the state government regulates health-oriented business such as supply and sale of tobacco and alcohol products (Murray et al., 2005). However, all levels of the government cooperatively regulate similar fields such as quality and safety of the health system, food standards, and health care labor force.

The health staff in Australia is diverse and large. It covers several professions ranging from highly qualified professionals headed to the support staff and to volunteers respectively. The midwives and the nurses are the biggest groups in the labor force. The figure of full-time equal midwives and nurses employed is nearly three rounds, that of the subsequent largest medical practitioners and health profession. Health workforce jobs involve employees who treat and diagnose mental and physical illness and conditions. They also administer, recommend and dispense treatment and medications in order to restore and promote good health in Australia (Zwar et al., 2017). However, all health practitioners should register thru the Accreditation Scheme (NRAS) and National Registration in Australia. The registered workforce comprises of midwives, nurses, medical practitioners and other health experts such as psychologists, dentists, and physiotherapists. Among the registered number of workers, midwives and nurses have the highest number of all departments.

The data collected shows that Australian Healthcare system compares with members of the OECD) or the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development. The group is an international body comprising of 34 nations. In fact, the rankings are built on the examination that uses OECD procedure. For instance, Australia health expenditure is calculated using OECD methods (Wang et al., 2018). The report of 2013 according to OECD reveals that the spending on health based on the ratio of GDP was 9.4 percent. It was somewhat higher compared to the average of OECD which was 9.3%. The result led to Australia health system being ranked number ten out of 22 OECD nations. The United States health expenditure was the highest having a GDP of 17.1 percent. The health expenditure per head in Australia is 5,060 dollars higher than the average of OECD which is 4,561 percent. As a result, it was ranked as number nine out of the 22 states (Willis et al., 2016).  The United States was again the leading spender since the health expenditure per head was 10,963 dollars.

Primary Health Care Services

The Australian healthcare system was also compared on basis of health care resources. A significant increase has taken place in the medical labor force in Australia from 2000.It coincided with the increase in the number of graduates involved in the medical profession. In fact, in 2013, the practicing number physicians in Australia were 3.4 per 1,000 populaces. The number increased from 2.5 hence, somewhat higher exceeding the OECD average of 3.3.The number of female employees entering in health systems is increasing. For instance, over 53 percent of medical experts in the age of 20 to 35 were females in 2014 (Baltagi et al., 2017)Basically women practitioners have been increasing day by day thus enabling extra health services within the healthcare system.

Despite that the Australian health care system ranks well in the world, it also faces several challenges. The health care system is now stretched by the growing rate of chronic illness, an aging population as well as outdated health services. Australia is recognized for having low death rates and high average life expectancy ( Duckett et al., 2015). The Australia Government confronts and will still confront great challenges in delivery and funding of health care in future if they are not addressed. However, the difficulties must be addressed to boost the wellbeing of people and improve health services. An inequality between the marginalized and the wealthy patients is growing hence there no room for self-satisfaction. The following is the list of challenges facing the Australian health care system;

1. The aging population and disease patterns.

The aging population in Australia poses a great challenge in healthcare systems. It challenges the capability of health care services to uphold the wellbeing and their health. The higher the life expectancy the higher chances of chronic and serious illness (Blank et al., 2107). The health system, therefore, faces some difficulties in managing their continuous illness and providing endless support for the disabled and frail. Australians have a long healthy lifespan of over 70 years. However, the longevity is then followed by increased disability from continuous illness (Powell Davies et al., 2017). Actions being taken to fight chronic disease among the aged population pose a big challenge of morbidity, health costs, and mortality.

1. Health inequality

Regardless of the advances in life expectancy attained in last few years, gains in health have not been shared equally throughout the Australian population. OECD research says that women are doing better than men, the educated living in the city have high standards than those living in the suburbs and in the bush. Aboriginal Australians life expectancy is lower than the rest of Australians by nearly a difference of 20years (Harris et al., 2018) The Health and Welfare Institute of Australia noted that if the whole population experienced equal death rates, fewer deaths would have taken place in the past decades. As a result, the continuous health inequalities may signal profound rifts in Australia that deserve extensive discussion and examination.

1. The costs of invented technology

Hospitals and Emergency Departments

The developments in medical technology have extremely led to increases in healthcare budgets. The therapeutic and diagnostic innovations such as new biological therapeutics, radiological scanners and invasive surgical prostheses and procedures often come at significant costs. Listing all these for the subsidy through the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) and Medicare really boost their use and availability hence increased the budget to the society ( Barnett et al., 2102). On the other hand, failing to fund the advanced medical technology will also raise eyebrows among the people, asking why the services are not accessible to all Australians hence creating political pressure. However, Australia has a suitable record that assesses the novel pharmaceutical products built on the cost-effectiveness principles. However, the evaluation of the new devices, surgical interventions, and other technologies are not inclusive hence lacks the rigor of cost-effectiveness used in vaccines and pharmaceutical commodities (Wakerman et al., 2017). Currently, several criteria are being considered in both private and public hospitals to control access to novel technology. Besides, the expensive cancer medicines are not obtainable on PBS.

1. The private-public fusion in health care subsidy

Considering that the structure of Australian Health System is complex, funding approach has also been a challenge. Patients have are experiencing frustrations led by a fragmented system. In other words, the services, as well as providers, are uncoordinated thus making it difficult for patients to receive the services required (Edvardsson et al., 2017). Health care access in Australia is becoming unreasonable. A number of individuals are using money from their pockets to pay medical bill. As a result, people who are less wealthy are not receiving the needed care. Ideally, Australian health care system ever gets support from private and public financiers in terms of service delivery and financing. Therefore, the matter has been a choice thus making it difficult for public departments. The private health system insurance supplement has been viewed as unfair. This is because the people living in rural areas have little access to private health care services. Besides, some part serious surgery is mainly carried out in private department. Therefore, many Australians without insurance for private hospitals are forced to wait for elective surgery carried out in public sectors (Collyer, 2017). The matter has indeed created a challenge of equity since the access to medical care is built on an ability to pay bills rather than need. Also, the specialist surgical training still remains concentrated within the public segment, where the load is lessening.

1. Quality and safety

Diverse and Large Health Staff in Australia

Errors in medical within Australian Health System cost nearly 2 billion dollars every year. However, Quality Australian Health Care research noted that around half of such medical errors could be prevented (Runciman et al., 2017). Australia has not yet accepted the idea of dealing with these medical errors. Besides, the system does not even take notes of such errors and when they neither occur nor adapt methods from other high-risk businesses. Some of the systems that can reduce the risk of medical errors include; aviation and nuclear power (Ludwick et al., 2009).  Australian heath system tolerates rigid, blame-allocating cultures and fault seeking in professional pyramids thus making it difficult to handle medical errors. Therefore, the new agency for safety and quality has been built on a series of preceding councils and committees, though its effectiveness has not yet been presented.

The federal government has already announced the introduction of health care homes. The project is being carried out on behalf of patients with complex chronic diseases and requires maximum attention (Schoen et al., 2009).  The patients are currently are enrolling with a GP and paid a shoved payment because of the care. The federal government also doubled its investment towards the public dental project to almost AUD5.0 billion. It is expected that the Adult and Child Dental program, introduced by territories and states will assist more the 10 billion people in Australia. Its program also provides coverage for minimally 5.3 million kids under the age of 18 and other 5 million low-income grown-ups.

Conclusion

In conclusion, Australian has been recognized as the best in comparison to other OECD nations in terms of giving efficient and effective health care system. The health system of Australia has been successful due to it mixed up approach implemented by the national government, to offer both private and public sector health facilities through subsidizing of drugs as well as the private sector amenities. The main goal of Australian Health Care system is to offer maximum health care to all people by providing them with Medicare health insurance coverage. However, the health system faces some challenges led by favoring private sectors thus causing disparity in health care. To avoid pressure, the next government is expected to address such challenges to enable the wellbeing of all Australians.

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