Healthcare Resource Allocation and Priority Setting: An Analysis

This report delves into the crucial topic of resource allocation and priority setting within the Australian healthcare system. It begins by advocating for the establishment of an independent agency to oversee these processes, emphasizing the need for improved safety, quality, and access to care, particularly for vulnerable populations. The report then explores the ethical values and principles, such as autonomy, justice, beneficence, and non-maleficence, that guide resource allocation decisions. It defines the values and principles that underpin priority setting in Australia, and examines key issues, including the use of technical analyses and the views of informed consent. Furthermore, the report highlights the contribution of economic theory and empirical evidence, discussing the roles of epidemiological, economic, and evidence-based medicine approaches. The analysis underscores the importance of economic evaluation and cost-effectiveness in making informed decisions about healthcare resource allocation, with the ultimate goal of maximizing health benefits and promoting efficient use of available resources within the healthcare sector.

RESOURCE ALLOCATION
AND PRIORITY SETTING

TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
1. Introduce independent agency to undertake priority setting in health care in Australia with
specific reason..............................................................................................................................1
2. What ethical values and principles guides resource allocation and priority setting................2
3. Define value and principles that underline priority setting of health in Australia...................3
4. Explain key issues in priority setting and contribution of economic theory and empirical
evidence.......................................................................................................................................3
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................5
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................6

INTRODUCTION
Health organisation is the one that requires to set the prioritise and allocate the resources
within the context of limit funding (Doherty, Kirigia and McIntyre, 2018). Thus, resources in
health care sector defined as materials, personnel, facilities, funds etc.
The present report is based on to resource allocation and priority setting. Furthermore,
assignment will cover activities as to introduce independent agency to undertake priority setting
in health care, the ethical values and principles that define by independent priority setting
agency. Lastly, key issues in priority setting as well contribution of economic theory and
empirical evidence.
1. Introduce independent agency to undertake priority setting in health care in Australia with
specific reason.
In Australia, independent agency needs to set up because it leads to have national
improvements of safety and quality in health care. Additionally, independent agency must
established in Australia to provide better and improve care facilities to patients. Thus, private
health care system are those that are owned and managed privately. Therefore, introduction of
independent agency helps to undertake the priority of health care facilities within Australia.
Hence, this also leads to provide better and effective services to treat patients with curative,
preventive, rehabilitative and palliative care (Lai, Cheung and Fu, 2018.). Additionally,
independent agency knows as primary federal agency that leads to improve access to health care
services mostly for individuals who are uninsured, medically vulnerable and isolated.
To make Australia health system effective, there is need to establish Independent agency
to provide the safe and affordable health care facilities to all the Australians. Therefore, better
communication and cooperation leads to produces the successful team work and also facilitate
the delivery of professional services. Henceforth, Independent agency works as professional
personnel that will practice decision that are not impacted by the financial consideration or the
business agreements.
In the present era, the most of health care organisation are not promoting better health
care to individuals. Therefore, improper look of legal authorities on internal functioning of
healthcare facilities affects health care services to patients. In order to cope up with it, this is
crucial to have independent agency to look-over the operational requirements of health sector.
1

Therefore, independent agency can assist to improve public health care system. Thus, main aim
of agency is to provide improved healthcare facilities to all citizen and permanent residents.
Additionally, execution of independent agency will assist to Australia in providing the
safe and affordable health care to all Australians. Henceforth, the main aim of appointing
independent agency in Australian healthcare system is to bring quality, effectiveness and
efficiency of primary health care services. Hence, this independent agency will be controlled by
the legal authorities of the Australia. Thus, maintenance and improvement of health care services
in Australia is crucial to promote better and improved care practices. Henceforth, independent
agency will work as to assigning and managing health care assets to support the organisation
strategic goals.
So, Independent agency needs to established as this leads to enhance the health and well
being for effective health and human services by fostering sound, sustained advances in the
science, public health and social service etc.
2. What ethical values and principles guides resource allocation and priority setting.
Health care system has to enhance their ethical practices and standards to provide better
and reinforced care facilities. Therefore, ethical principles aids to set up within health care
organisation and resource allocation is central part of the decision making in health care system.
Additionally, Independent agency based on set of values that assists to medical profession to
provide safe, guaranteed care facilities to patients. Thus, distribution of limited healthcare
resources be the money, time, equipment, organs for transplantation requires setting for
priorities.
Thus, they give general guidelines about how firm needs to govern the decision and also
have authority to provide specific guidance on the issues like harassment, safety and conflicts of
interest (Mahdavi, Parsaeian, and Ghaffari, 2018). In addition to this, independent agency works
as to have regular interaction with legal authorities to promote effective care services with help
of appropriate referral and sharing of information. By regularly communicating with legal
authorities, the ethical guidelines can be framed that brings dignity and autonomy for patients.
Henceforth, Independent agency works as to enhancing the quality care facilities to
patients and the wider community. This is the authority that is responsible for taking professional
decision and responsible for actions of staff under their supervision. In addition to this, the
standard guidance for allocating healthcare resources are based on effectiveness on the cost.
2

Thus, ethical values are essential for healthcare workers as this has main principles as autonomy,
justice, beneficence and non-maleficence. Allocation of resource is one of the central part of
decision making. Under the ethical dilemmas, informed consent, confidentiality, end of life
decision and focus on individual patients are crucial factor to provide better services.
3. Define value and principles that underline priority setting of health in Australia.
Priority in healthcare setting is one of the organisational behaviour that mainly considers
the barriers and facilitators in context of healthcare organisation. It is defined as challenge at all
levels as national, global and international level. Therefore, the two broad approaches as setting
priorities for health research are as use of technical analyses and to relay on views of informed
consent. It is the process that needs to be establishes in terms to undertake better and improved
care services. Therefore, to establish the priorities among service categories this is crucial to
ensure with the consistency with the local needs and to define the way that how to meet out the
each priority (Prinja, Gauba, and Swaminathan, 2018).
In order to have priority setting, the number of the approaches have been developed that
is inclusive of evidence based medicine, burden of evidence based medicine and cost effective
analysis and equity analysis. However, these are the approaches that needs to be framed out as it
assists to develop better health care practices.
4. Explain key issues in priority setting and contribution of economic theory and empirical
evidence.
The one of the main key issues is that priority setting in health care is inclusive of
process of choice among the various alternatives of health care programme and services.
Therefore, it is defined as the process with help of which all of the alternatives are ranked as per
the accordance with normative and technical rules that leads to basic package of health care
service. In addition to this, there are three technical approaches to the priority setting are as
epidemiological, economic and evidence based medicine contribution. On the other hand,
evidence is an approach to medical practice that intends in terms to optimize the decision main
from well designed and well conducted research (Key issues in rationing and priority setting for
health care services, 2019).
Priority choice within the healthcare is inclusive of the process of choice among the
health care programmes and services that needs to be offered among the patients and group of
3

patients who receive the care (Yazdanparast, Hamid and Keramati, 2018). Within the recent
years, the priority setting has received an increasing amount of attention in many countries.
Henceforth, this can be stated that economic evaluation aids to generate evidence based
information with the help of cost effective analysis or cost benefit analysis. This assist and also
bring improvement in decision making in terms to allocation of the resources of health care. All
the public health decision must have the resources implementation and this needs to be
considered at the time of making the decision.
In addition to this, priority setting has huge affect on way of allocating the scare
resources. It is continue with the review of underpinnings of these issues. Health economics
provides the specific information to the decision makers, as this have efficient use of the
available resources that supports to maximize the health benefits. In addition to this, economic
evaluation is one significant part of the health economies and this is also the tool that compares
the cost and consequence the different interventions. Additionally, health economies defined as
study of how scare resources needs to allocate among the different alternative uses for care of
sickness and promotion, improvement of health and maintenance among the individuals
(Yazdanparast, Hamid and Keramati, 2018). Thus, contribution of the economic theory in health
care setting is to access the efficiency and effectiveness of the function and cost implication. On
the other hand, to bring improvement in the policy relevance and utility with help of assessment,
planning and avoidance of the wasteful expenditure in hospital. Additionally, the main purpose
of economic evaluation is to have better identification the course of action. On the other hand,
economic assessment is the tool that aids to determine the potential cost to explain the situation
and to use the approaches. Therefore, these are typical to the bring better advancement in the
healthcare sector.
Thus, empirical evidence aids to demonstrate the informal patients payments that are
crucial feature of the health care system. In addition to this, evidence based medicine is defined
as an approach that intends to optimize the decision making by emphasizing the use of evidence
in terms to undertake the well designed and well conducted research.
Hence, it can be stated that the virtually each publicly funded health care system in the
world is based on the priorities of the health care setting. At the first sight, this can be stated that
the rationing and priority setting in the health care might appear to be two different concepts. As
per the economic term, the rationing defined as to distribution under the conditions of in which
4

the supply is limited by the consideration of the cost and price. In addition to this, priority setting
in health care refer as to the process in which governments and public authorities make decision
in relation to the relative ranking to attached with different programme, types and services of the
patients. On the other hand, priority setting may be termed out as conscious and organized
process that can be undertaken in order to bring improvement in the health care facilities.
It can be understood with the help of example as- Legal authorities and health community
allocate the resources within competing the uses that based on well formulated rules and criteria.
In addition to this, the priority is defined as the way that makes the decision about how patients
should be treated for what kind of condition takes place at the all levels. Under this case, priority
setting interpreted in terms to involve the process that is virtually indistinguishable from the
rationing.
In addition to this, at the general level economic contribution rests on the rational of the
economic analysis of the problem that how the resources are needed to be located (Yazdanparast,
Hamid and Keramati, 2018). On the other hand, this can be stated that economic cost and
alternative intervention programmes aids to bring better and effective operational analysis.
Under this, it can be stated that the cost effectiveness analysis compares with the
incremental health benefits that us associated with the additional resource expenditures. On the
other hand, effective analysis of the cost is the alternative termed that aids to have the benefits to
be expressed in monetary terms.
CONCLUSION
Hereby, it can be concluded that setting priorities within the health care is the
organisational behaviour. Under this, there are three technical approaches in the priority setting
that is use of epidemiological, evidence and economical based medicine contribution. Thus,
present report has covered the resource allocation and priority setting about the health care
practices in the Australia.
Furthermore, assignment has covered the activities as to Introduce independent agency to
undertake priority setting in health care in Australia so that better and improved practices can be
carried out. Lastly, key issues has been identified in the priority setting and contribution of
economic theory and empirical evidence within healthcare sector.
5

REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Doherty, J., Kirigia, D. and McIntyre, D., 2018. Does expanding fiscal space lead to improved
funding of the health sector in developing countries?: lessons from Kenya, Lagos State
(Nigeria) and South Africa. Global health action. 11(1). p.1461338.
Lai, K.K., Cheung, M.T. and Fu, Y., 2018. Resource allocation in public healthcare: A team-dea
model. Journal of Systems Science and Complexity. 31(2). pp.463-472.
Mahdavi, M., Parsaeian, M. and Ghaffari, S., 2018. Recent Iranian health system reform: an
operational perspective to improve health services quality. International journal of health
policy and management. 7(1). p.70.
Prinja, S., Downey, L.E., Gauba, V.K. and Swaminathan, S., 2018. Health technology
assessment for policy making in India: current scenario and way forward.
Yazdanparast, R., Hamid, M. and Keramati, A., 2018. An intelligent algorithm for optimization
of resource allocation problem by considering human error in an emergency
department. Journal of Industrial and Systems Engineering. 11(1). pp.287-309.
Online
Key issues in rationing and priority setting for health care services. 2019. [Online]. Available
through:<https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/1793/9b7221d5a5a25669df691c61b064d45e582
6.pdf>.
6