Better information to drive health investment decisions

Strengthening the use of data will prevent health decisionmakers from “flying blind”

Federal and state governments spend a large and increasing proportion of their budgets on health care. Although rising costs are partly driven by an ageing population, increases in the volume of services per patient are also a major cause, while advancing science, community expectations and defensive medicine contribute to “doing more”. The major challenge facing the Australian health care system in the next electoral term will therefore be to rein in rising costs while maintaining high standards of care and meeting new demands.