Glossary

Activity Based Funding: Way of funding public hospitals so they get paid for the number and mix of patients they treat.

admitted patient: Patient who undergoes a hospital’s formal admission process to receive treatment and/or care, and ends with a formal separation process.

average annual income: Calculated from average weekly earnings statistics, which are the average gross (before tax) earnings of employees. Estimates of average weekly earnings are derived by dividing estimates of weekly total earnings of the number of employees.

capital consumption: Amount of fixed capital used each year. Also referred to as depreciation.

chain price index: Annually re weighted index providing a close approximation to measures of pure price change.

co-payment: Payment made by an individual who shares the cost of goods and services with third party payers, such as a private health insurance provider or the Australian Government for a PBS or Repatriation PBS medicine (see out-of-pocket costs).

hospital services: Services provided to a patient receiving admitted patient services or non-admitted patient services in a hospital, but excluding non-admitted dental services, community health services, patient transport services, public health activities and health research done within the hospital. Can include services provided off site, such as dialysis or hospital in the home.

individual net worth: Calculated from household net worth, which is the difference between the stock of assets (financial and non-financial) and stock of liabilities (including shares and other equity).

local government: The 6 states and the Northern Territory have established a further level of government. Local governments handle community needs such as waste collection, public recreation facilities and town planning. In the Australian Capital Territory, responsibilities usually handled by local government are administered by the territory government.

Medicare: National, government-funded scheme that subsidises the cost of personal medical services for all Australians and aims to help them afford medical care. The MBS is the listing of the Medicare services subsidised by the Australian Government. The schedule is part of the wider Medicare Benefits Scheme (Medicare).

out-of-pocket costs: Total costs incurred by individuals for health-care services over and above any refunds from the MBS, the PBS and private health insurance funds (see co-payment).

over-the-counter medicines: Medicinal preparations that are not prescription medicines and are primarily bought from pharmacies and supermarkets.

Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS): National, government-funded scheme that subsidises the cost of a wide variety of pharmaceutical drugs (see Repatriation Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme).

private patient: Person admitted to a private hospital or to a public hospital who decides to choose the doctors who will treat them or to have private ward accommodation. These patients are charged for medical services, food and accommodation.

public patient: Person admitted to hospital at no charge and mostly funded through public sector health or hospital service budgets.

Repatriation Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (Repatriation PBS): Provides assistance to eligible veterans (with recognised war or service related disabilities) and their dependants for pharmaceuticals listed on the PBS and a supplementary repatriation list, at the same cost as patients entitled to the concessional payment under the PBS (see Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme).

total health price index: Ratio of total national health expenditure at current prices, to total national health expenditure at constant prices.