IHACPA leads the collection, validation, analysis and reporting of the NHCDC. This work is carried out in partnership with states and territories and private hospitals which submit hospital activity and cost data each year.
The NHCDC is a valuable evidence base used across the Australian health system. It matches patient level activity with the costs incurred by hospitals and is the primary data collection used to develop the national efficient price determination for funding public hospital services.
Private sector report
The NHCDC Private Sector Report 2023–24 provides an overview of private hospital cost and activity information.
We received data from 139 in-scope overnight private hospitals, representing 74.9% of private hospital activity in Australia. The data covers 2,692,313 sample hospital separations from a total population of 3,594,953, based on Private Hospital Data Bureau data.
Key findings from the report include:
- sample separations increased by 2.2% compared to the previous year
- total sample costs increased by 5.9% to $12.2 billion, driven by higher activity volumes and an increase in the average cost per separation
- the total population-weighted cost increased by 5.6% compared with 2022–23, reflecting growth in activity and higher average separation costs.
Public sector report
The NHCDC Public Sector Report 2023–24 includes hospital cost data, including health services, submitted by states and territories.
We received data from 774 health service providers and public hospitals across Australia, an increase of 34 compared to the previous year.
Key findings from the report include:
- total national expenditure on public sector hospital activity in 2023–24 was $78.65 billion, a 13% increase from $69.87 billion in 2022–23
- in-scope patient encounters increased to 48.2 million, a 9% increase compared to the previous year, largely driven by growth in non-admitted service events, with additional increases in emergency department and admitted acute activity
- admitted acute care expenditure totalled $44.69 billion, accounting for 56.8% of total national expenditure on public hospital activity.