Do private patients have shorter waiting times for elective surgery? Evidence from New South Wales public hospitals

Johar, M; Savage, EJ

Do private patients have shorter waiting times for elective surgery? Evidence from New South Wales public hospitals

Johar, M

Savage, EJ

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Publisher:: Economic Society of Australia and New Zealand
Publication Type:: Journal Article
Citation:: Economic Papers, 2010, 29 (2), pp. 128 - 142
Issue Date:: 2010-01

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Field	Value	Language
dc.contributor.author	Johar, M https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2381-1741	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Savage, EJ https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2690-3975	en_US
dc.date.issued	2010-01	en_US
dc.identifier.citation	Economic Papers, 2010, 29 (2), pp. 128 - 142	en_US
dc.identifier.issn	0812-0439	en_US
dc.identifier.uri	http://hdl.handle.net/10453/13902
dc.description.abstract	The Productivity Commission (2008) identified waiting times for elective surgery as a measure of governments success in providing accessible health care. At the 2007 COAG meeting, the Prime Minister identified reduction of elective surgery waiting times in public hospitals as a major policy priority. To date, the analysis of waiting time data has been limited to summary statistics by medical procedure, doctor specialty and state. In this paper, we look behind the summary statistics and analyse the extent to which private patients are prioritised over comparable public patients in public hospitals. Our empirical evidence is based on waiting list and admission data from public hospitals in NSW for 20042005. We find that private patients have substantially shorter waiting times, and tend to be admitted ahead of their listing rank, especially for procedures that have low urgency levels. We also explore the benefits and costs of this preferential treatment on waiting times.	en_US
dc.publisher	Economic Society of Australia and New Zealand	en_US
dc.relation.ispartof	Economic Papers	en_US
dc.title	Do private patients have shorter waiting times for elective surgery? Evidence from New South Wales public hospitals	en_US
dc.type	Journal Article
utslib.citation.volume	2	en_US
utslib.citation.volume	29	en_US
utslib.for	140208 Health Economics	en_US
utslib.for	1402 Applied Economics	en_US
utslib.for	1502 Banking, Finance and Investment	en_US
pubs.embargo.period	Not known	en_US
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/Faculty of Business
utslib.copyright.status	open_access
pubs.consider-herdc	true	en_US
pubs.issue	2	en_US
pubs.volume	29	en_US

Abstract:

The Productivity Commission (2008) identified waiting times for elective surgery as a measure of governments success in providing accessible health care. At the 2007 COAG meeting, the Prime Minister identified reduction of elective surgery waiting times in public hospitals as a major policy priority. To date, the analysis of waiting time data has been limited to summary statistics by medical procedure, doctor specialty and state. In this paper, we look behind the summary statistics and analyse the extent to which private patients are prioritised over comparable public patients in public hospitals. Our empirical evidence is based on waiting list and admission data from public hospitals in NSW for 20042005. We find that private patients have substantially shorter waiting times, and tend to be admitted ahead of their listing rank, especially for procedures that have low urgency levels. We also explore the benefits and costs of this preferential treatment on waiting times.

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http://hdl.handle.net/10453/13902