Aged Care Insite Issue 94 | April-May 2016 | Seite 24

industry & policy

The consumer is everything
Health system stakeholders gathered to discuss
a vision that truly centres on the customer.
Vlado Perkovic interviewed by Dallas Bastian

A

ustralia should have a national vision for health that sets
out the principles of consumer-centred healthcare.
This was one of the points raised at a round table of
about 35 health experts, hosted by The George Institute for Global
Health and the Consumers Health Forum of Australia (CHF).
CHF chief executive Leanne Wells says Australians should be
taking a more decisive and active role in their own healthcare,
and adds that to achieve this, we need to innovate and provide
consumers with the tools to make that happen.
“Consumers must be the makers and shapers of the health
system, rather than just the users and choosers,” she says.
Following the round table, the George Institute and
CHF released a report, Putting the consumer first: creating a
consumer-centred health system for a 21st Century Australia,
detailing eight key recommendations:
• To develop a national vision of Australia’s health through 2025
via the Council of Australian Governments that describes and
commits to setting the principles of consumer-centred healthcare,
underpinned by regional plans for system improvement and
innovation developed by primary health networks and local
hospital districts and networks, in collaboration with public and
private providers and the community.
• Involve consumers in the governance of all levels of healthcare
and research.

22 agedcareinsite.com.au

• Invest in empowering consumers to become more involved
in healthcare design and delivery, and self-management of
their health.
• Make consumer-centred professional practice a core
professional competency in healthcare education to build skills in
working with patients and as part of multidisciplinary teams.
• Ensure that consumer experience drives the health system
by routinely measuring patient experiences and outcomes, and
making this information publicly available to allow informed
decision-making.
• Enable innovation while ensuring new approaches are
evidence-based, developed collaboratively and fit for purpose.
• Adjust drivers to create the right policy, infrastructure and
incentives for change and to support consumer-centred care.
• Develop a change-management strategy to facilitate the
implementation of a consumer-centred health system.
Professor Vlado Perkovic, executive director of The George
Institute for Global Health, Australia, sat down with Aged Care
Insite to discuss the recommendations and the importance of
empowering consumers when making decisions about their
health and treatment.

ACI: Why did george and chF decide to hold this round table
and why was its timing important?
vp: Health is obviously important to all of us and it’s undergoing
much change at the moment. There is a whole series of different
reviews underway. We’ve heard [recent discussion] about new
approaches to managing chronic care by redesigning GP
payments. There are changes underway in mental health and
digital health. There’s a whole range of things being looked at with
a view to updating and modernising Australia’s healthcare system.