Productivity Commission

Exports of health services

Industry Commission inquiry report

The report contains the findings of the Industry Commission's public inquiry.

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Contents

  • Preliminaries
    • Cover, Copyright, Signing Page, Contents, List of Abbreviations, Terms of Reference, Overview and Recommendations
  • 1 The Inquiry
    • 1.1 Origin of the reference
    • 1.2 Inquiry information
    • 1.3 The Industry Commission's approach
    • 1.4 The national health strategy
  • 2 Health Care and Health Insurance
    • 2.1 Features of health care and health insurance
    • 2.2 Health care in Australia
    • 2.3 Government objectives and involvement in health
  • 3 Australian Exports of Health Services
    • 3.1 Introduction
    • 3.2 Why do foreign patients come to Australia?
    • 3.3 Visitors who obtain treatment in Australia
    • 3.4 Provision of health care to foreign demand for Australia's health services
    • 3.5 What is the potential foreign demand for Australia's health services
    • 3.6 Capacity of the Australian hospital system to serve foreign patients
  • 4 Direct Impediments to Exports of Health Services
    • 4.1 Introduction
    • 4.2 Immigration procedures
    • 4.3 The sale of health insurance to foreigners
    • 4.4 Guaranteeing access to public hospitals
    • 4.5 Limits on the training of foreign doctors
    • 4.6 Restrictions on the accreditation of foreign trained doctors
    • 4.7 Restrictions on advertising
    • 4.8 Ambivalence to exports of health services
  • 5 The Efficient Provision of Health Service to Foreigners
    • 5.1 Fees paid by foreign patients
    • 5.2 Bad debts incurred by foreign patients
    • 5.3 Provision of health services and health insurance to foreign students
  • 6 Efficient Delivery of Health Care and Health Insurance 
    • 6.1 Introduction
    • 6.2 What does efficiency in the health care system involve?
    • 6.3 Incentives for overuse of health services
    • 6.4 Accreditation procedures and regulation of the medical profession
    • 6.5 Use of inputs
    • 6.6 Funding of public hospitals
    • 6.7 Pricing of services provided by public hospitals
    • 6.8 Regulation of private health insurance
    • 6.9 Incentives for efficiency within Medicar
    • 6.10 Conclusions
  • A List of the participants
  • B The Australian hospital system
  • C Health insurance
  • D Regulation of the medical and nursing professions
  • E The labour market
  • F International perspectives on health care
  • References

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Productivity Commission acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of the land on which we live and work, and we pay our respects to Elders past and present.

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