The Independent Hospital Pricing Authority (IHPA) has released its Consultation Paper on the Pricing Framework for Australian Public Hospital Services 2022–23 for public consultation. The Pricing Framework for Australian Public Hospital Services (the Pricing Framework) is fundamental to the National Health Reform Agreement and underpins the determination of the annual national efficient price and national efficient cost for Australian public hospital services.  

This consultation seeks feedback from interested parties on:

• the impact on the delivery of hospital services as a result of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19)
• the development and refinement of classification systems, including the proposed introduction of a standard development cycle for all classifications
• the exploration of future funding models that support payment for patient outcomes over volume of services
• pricing and funding approaches for safety and quality, including exploring options for reducing avoidable and preventable hospitalisations
• data collection, coding, costing standards and approaches, which underpin the national activity-based funding system.

Feedback gathered in this public consultation process will be used to help inform IHPA’s final Pricing Framework for 2022–23, released in December 2021. Submissions may be emailed to submissions.ihpa@ihpa.gov.au or mailed to PO Box 483, Darlinghurst, NSW, 1300 by 5:00pm AEST on Friday 9 July 2021.