Submission to the Independent Health and Aged Care Pricing Authority

PCA supports IHACPA's proposed focus on delivering value for patients and the health system. Palliative care is high-value care. It improves quality of life, reduces avoidable hospital use and non-beneficial treatment, and can enable more people to receive care at home where this is their preference - including at end of life.

Current public hospital pricing and funding arrangements do not adequately support palliative care, particularly specialist palliative care consultation services and community-based care.

Development of the 2027-28 Pricing Framework creates opportunities to better recognise and incentivise palliative care’s role in delivering value – for patients and the health system.

PCA recommends that IHACPA:

• Retain the term "high-quality care" in the updated Pricing Principles for Public Hospitals.
• Undertake a five-year program of work to develop innovative pricing models that better support:
  • specialist palliative care consultations across public hospitals
  • improved data collection on specialist palliative care activity
  • home- and community-based palliative care, and
  • hospital diversion for people with life-limiting illness.

Download submission