Measuring healthcare expenditure: different methods, different results

Background

Accurate information on healthcare expenditure is essential; however, a number of issues arise when healthcare expenditure is being measured. Traditionally healthcare expenditure data in Ireland have been limited, especially data that facilitate comparable analysis through time and across particular programmes or services. Recently however, a major development in Irish healthcare expenditure estimates was the publication of Irish healthcare current expenditure estimates for 2013 according to the international standard of the OECD System of Health Accounts (SHA).

Aims

The aim of the analysis presented in this paper is to examine how alternative methodologies for measuring healthcare can influence the estimate(s) of healthcare expenditure.

Methods

The methods and results (in terms of healthcare expenditure) of the Central Statistics Office (CSO) application of SHA methodology will be compared and contrasted with an alternative methodology for measuring healthcare expenditure developed by Wren et al.

Results

The two approaches to measuring healthcare expenditure in Ireland reached a very similar figure for total current healthcare expenditure in 2013. However, there were considerable disparities in the components of expenditure.

Conclusions

There is no one absolute definition or estimate of healthcare expenditure, and different methodological approaches to estimating expenditure will likely yield different results. Therefore, care is required when assessing healthcare expenditure to ensure that there is a clear understanding about what is and is not included in the estimate.