Healthengine is Australia’s largest consumer healthcare platform, which helps people navigate the complex world of healthcare. Since 2021, Healthengine has partnered with the Australian Patients Association to create the Australian Healthcare Index, a regular pulse check on the experiences patients have of the healthcare system and their feelings of how well it serves them.
A snapshot of the issues affecting patients
In June 2022, the top issues affecting patients were private health insurance costs, emergency department wait times, and access to mental health care. Medicine affordability was another big concern for respondents, with only 25% saying prescription medicine is affordable, and surgery wait times, with 56% of people needing surgery within 30 days waiting 31 days or more.
Stories from numbers
Agenda C obtained media coverage across a wide range of urban and regional media for the Index, including 31 television mentions, 8 print mentions, 159 online mentions, and 384 radio mentions. The media coverage reached over 6,000,000 Australians.
Supporting patients by informing the healthcare industry and policy makers
The Index helps the greater healthcare industry see at a glance the issues that concern patients most. These findings and other insights into patient experience were statistically represented from over 11,000 patient responses, providing an easy reference for anyone engaged in setting priorities in the healthcare space.
The Index is set to become a regular feature, helping bring the patient experience to the forefront to track the progress and challenges over time.
