Should we be discouraging people from seeing their general practitioner?
Calculating from federal government figures:
The cost of one admission to a public hospital is more than the government would spend on 15 years worth of GP consultations
It is cheaper to pay for someone to see their GP every week for a year than it is to pay for them to be admitted to hospital for just one day.
References:
According to the Independent Hospital Pricing Authority, The “National Average Cost per Weighted Separation” 2010-2011 is $4613
According to the Productivity Commission, the cost to government of general practice per person, 2011-12 was $299.40
Medicare Cost of Level B MBS Consultation currently $36.30.
The cost of a hospital admission is ‘front loaded’ to the first day.
