Commentary on the private practice implications of the Deed of Settlement in the Honeysuckle Health - NIB Australian-Competition-Tribunal-hearing.
Jeffrey C L LooiGary GalambosWilliam PringStephen AllisonTarun BastiampillaiMeshary Khaled N AlotibyPublished in: Australasian psychiatry : bulletin of Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists (2022)
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) authorised the formation of a joint buying-group for private-health-insurers in 2021 to provide collective contracting and related services to private-health-insurers and other healthcare-payers. A consequent legal challenge resulted in a Deed of Settlement on 18 July 2022 that for 5 years preserves doctor-patient autonomy in clinical decision-making, the medical gaps scheme, the transparency of contractual arrangements, and if clinical data of those insured are collected by HH-nib, it must be with the full informed consent of patients. However, there remain options for private-health-insurers to apply for formation of new buying-groups, as well as to collect data and profile the general public and insured patients using online programs. Vigilance on private-health-insurer buying-groups, and the potential for US-style managed-care is warranted.
Keyphrases
- healthcare
- health information
- public health
- end stage renal disease
- mental health
- chronic kidney disease
- ejection fraction
- newly diagnosed
- health insurance
- peritoneal dialysis
- primary care
- emergency department
- prognostic factors
- machine learning
- human health
- health promotion
- risk assessment
- chronic pain
- electronic health record
- case report
- quality improvement
- deep learning
- patient reported outcomes
- hearing loss