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APS Submission to the Independent Health and Aged Care Pricing Authority (IHACPA) - June 2026

Executive Summary

The Australian Paediatric Society (APS) welcomes the opportunity to provide feedback regarding the Pricing Framework for Australian Public Hospital Services 2027–28.

APS submits that current hospital funding models inadequately recognise the complexity and resource requirements of contemporary paediatric chronic disease management, particularly within regional and rural Australia.

Many paediatric chronic conditions now require substantial clinical activity occurring outside traditional face-to-face consultations. This includes virtual care, review of patient-generated health data, multidisciplinary case review, care coordination, communication with schools and community providers, and proactive interventions designed to prevent deterioration and hospital admission.

While some of this activity may be absorbed within large tertiary children's hospitals, regional services frequently rely upon smaller multidisciplinary teams with limited infrastructure and workforce capacity. Existing funding arrangements often fail to adequately recognise or measure this work.

APS recommends that IHACPA consider mechanisms to:

  1. Better recognise patient complexity within paediatric chronic disease services
  2. Capture and fund clinically necessary virtual and asynchronous care
  3. Recognise multidisciplinary care activities occurring outside traditional consultations
  4. Support nationally consistent collection of activity and outcome data
  5. Ensure regional and rural services are not disadvantaged by funding models primarily designed around metropolitan tertiary hospitals 1

Full Submission June 2026

pdfAPS Submission to the Independent Health and Aged Care Pricing Authority131.55 KB

Content created: 28 June 2026