The Productivity Commission (PC)'s Interim Report on Delivering Care More Efficiently, written at the request of the Federal Government and published ahead of next week's Economic Reform Roundtable, makes three recommendations.
First, the PC recommends greater alignment in the regulation of aged care, the NDIS, and Veteran's care.
They propose a single safety and quality reporting framework and data repository for aged care and the NDIS.
It is proposed that within three years there should be unified registration for workers in aged care, the NDIS, and veterans’ care, and the idea of a single regulator across aged care, the NDIS and veterans’ care within six years should be explored.
Second, the PC proposed better collaboration between health networks.
"Collaborative commissioning", when organisations work in partnership to plan, procure and evaluate services for their local communities, was highlighted in aged care peak Catholic Health Australia's submission to the PC Inquiry.
The practice also aligns with Not For Profit regional aged care provider Whiddon's pilot of six programs developed in partnership with 20 organisations.
Collaborative commissioning "has potential to support more integrated care, address service gaps and tailor care services to local needs", the PC report states.
"While collaborative commissioning is endorsed in government plans and agreements, this ambition remains unrealised," they state.
Thirdly, the PC recommends greater investment in prevention, with the development of a National Prevention Investment Framework, developed by the Federal Government with the states.
"At the centre of the framework is a new national independent advisory board that would evaluate ongoing prevention programs and assess the cost-effectiveness of new programs," the PC recommends.
Medibank-owned Amplar health is working on preventative health measures, such as developing algorithms to identify high-risk GP patients with the aim of preventing hospital admissions.
The PC is now seeking further feedback and will release a final report later this year.
Read the report in full here.