2.5 Unit Rates
The unit rates for all WIES5 are given in Table 4. Funding for the Tender Pool will allow between 8,000 and 12,000 tender WIES.
Table 4: Unit Rates, 1997-98 Unit Rates Per Public WIES5 Private WIES5 Target Fixed Rate Variable Rate Total Unit Rate Total Unit Rate A Major Providers $749 $1,327 $2,076 1,688 Rural Group B (large) $847 $1,327 $2,174 $1,786 Rural Group B (small) & C $867 $1,327 $2,194 $1,806 Rural Group D $916 $1,327 $2,243 $1,855 Rural Group E $916 $1,327 $2,243 $1,855 Margin A N/A N/A $929 $657 Option N/A N/A $929 $657 Tender To Be Determined To Be Determined To Be Determined
The fixed grant was standardised in 1995-96, when hospitals in Group D and E recieved a higher rate than larger hospitals in recognition of their higher infrastructure costs relative to their inpatient throughput: the relative inelasticity of many costs in smaller hospitals; and because of the reallocation of targets from smaller hospitals to the larger regional hospitals.
For 1997-1998, it has been recognised that a number of the arguments about higher infrastructure costs also apply to smaller Group B (those with less than 10,000 WIES per year) and Group C hospitals in rural areas. Overall these hospitals have had fewer WIES allocated to them than have Networks and to other major hospitals. Thus the fixed rate for these hospitals has been increased.
Larger Group B hospitals do not have these costs to the same degree and their fixed grant is unchanged. Geelong hospital will attract the fixed rate applied to Networks in 1997-1998, reflecting that the hospital is a large and specialised hospital comparable in size and complexity to the Networks. For this reason Geelong Hospital and the Networks have been grouped as major Providers. Indeed the Hospitals expected budget is 15 per cent greater than that of the Peninsula Health Care Network. As a transition, Geelong Hospital will be eligible to receive the Rural Specialist Services Grant in 1997-98. Major providers have a lower fixed overhead rate reflecting economies of scale in their infrastructure.
The variable payment will be $1,327 per WIES5 and will be payable on all WIES (except those in the Target A Margin and Tender Pool.) In 1997-1998, the variable payment will continue to include the amount which used to be separately identified as the public medical payment. Private patient throughput will be paid at $939 per WIES5.
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Purchasing PolicyTo:
Victoria - Public Hospitals
Policy and Funding Guidelines
1997-1998 - Table of Contents