Hospital Circular 11/2007: Hospital Circulars - Department of Health, Victoria, Australia

Hospital Circular 11/2007

Date Issued: 7 June 2007

Distribution: Public Hospitals

Subject: Public Hospital fees – Changes

Private Admitted Patients - overnight stays, same day patients and hospital outreach service patients
Compensable Admitted Patients (excluding WorkCover and TAC recipients)

Public Hospital Fees - Changes

(i) Private Admitted Patients - overnight stay, same day and hospital outreach service patients.

The Commonwealth has advised that the overnight accommodation basic default benefits for shared ward acute hospital treatment in public hospitals in Victoria, and for hospital outreach services, will be increased by 2.4% (CPI movement for Australia March quarter 2006 to March quarter 2007). Accordingly the State Department of Human Services (DHS) has determined that effective 1 July 2007, Victorian public hospital private admitted patient bed day rates for 2007/2008 for private admitted: shared overnight stays, shared ward same day stays, and outreach hospital services stays will increase by 2.4%.

The private admitted single room accommodation rates for acute treatment is not subject to a Commonwealth default benefit. The State Department has increased the published rate for the private admitted single room rate by 3.5% on the 2006/2007 rates.

(ii) Compensable Admitted Patients (excluding WorkCover and TAC recipients).

The State Department has increased the published rate for compensable admitted patients by 3.5% on the 2006/2007 rates.

Should the State Department further wish to amend any of the above the published 2006/2007 private patient accommodation charges, hospitals will be notified by DHS Hospitals Circular.

It is of course a matter for individual hospitals to weigh up the various considerations in charging the published public hospital single accommodation charge. Considerations might include the benefit health funds will assign to the public hospital; the co-payment a partially covered patient is willing to pay as an elected private patient; and – subject to sound internal polices and practice, - the amount of co-payment (eg front end deductible) a hospital can viably forgo.

Published rates for 2007/2008 are as follows:

Table 1 - Private Overnight Stay

Patient Classification	Length of Stay	Fee per day ($)
Patient Classification	Length of Stay	Shared	Single
Advanced Surgical	1 - 14 days 15 + days	333 231	632 490
Surgical/Obstetric	1 - 14 days 15 + days	308 231	600 490
Other	1 - 14 days 15 + days	268 231	528 490
Psychiatric	1 - 42 days 43 - 65 days 66 + days	308 268 231	600 528 490
Rehabilitation	1 - 49 days 50 - 65 days 66 + days	308 268 231	600 528 490

Table 2 - Private Same Day Admissions

Band	Fee Shared	Fee Single room
Band 1	195	265
Band 2	231	317
Band 3	268	366
Band 4	308	421

Table 3 - Hospital Outreach Services

$166 per day, effective 1 July 2007.

With the introduction of the new private health insurance reforms that came into effect 1 April 2007 there will be no Commonwealth approval of outreach services in future. Hospitals will need to negotiate recognition of these services directly with Health Funds, and should discuss any proposed arrangements with the Department. However, under the proposed transitional arrangements, those services already approved by the Commonwealth as outreach services will continue to be eligible for this default benefit to 30 June 2008.

Table 4 - Compensable Admitted Patients (excluding WorkCover and TAC recipients)

Patient Classification	Length of Stay	Fee per day ($)
Advanced Surgical	1 - 14 days 15 + days	612 319
Surgical/Obstetric	1 - 14 days 15 + days	558 319
Other	1 - 14 days 15 + days	558 319
Psychiatric	1 - 42 days 43 - 65 days 66 + days	359 319 289
Rehabilitation	1 - 49 days 50 - 65 days 66 + days	523 319 241
Geriatric		319
Nursing Home Patient		186
Same Day Patient		447

Public hospitals are reminded that:

Fees for patients in single bed rooms are to be charged only when a patient is accommodated in the single bed room by his or her choice (that is, a patient accommodated in a single room for medical reasons is not to be charged single room rates); and
The private bed day fees exclude private patient charges for surgically implanted prostheses, human tissue items, and other medical devices.

Lance Wallace
Executive Director
Metropolitan Health and Aged Care Services