Changes in Hospitalisation Rates and Costs in New South Wales, 1996–97 and 2000–01

Changes in hospital admission rates and costs in New South Wales (NSW) between 1996–97 and 2000–01 were examined by age, hospital type and socioeconomic status. A novel method led to a more accurate assessment of hospital patients’ socio-economic status than was previously possible. Use of unit record hospitals data and full population Census data allowed very high levels of disaggregation. Considerable increases in the baby boomer and frail aged populations led to higher hospital admission rates over the period. This was driven by the private sector, which saw its admission rates increase by 20 per cent (with the public sector rate declining by 6 per cent). Public hospital admission rates by age were found to be up to 40 per cent greater for the poorest 20 per cent of the population than for the richest 20 per cent—with a reversal of the pattern for private hospitals (up to 45 per cent greater for the richest 20 per cent than for the poorest 20 per cent). In a period when total NSW hospital expenditures increased by 21 per cent, we found that ‘per admission costs’ in the inpatient nonpsychiatric sub-sector changed little.