Table 1

Hospital bed day costing items in Australian public hospitals

Item	Estimate	Source	Date
National public hospital expenditure	$A44 435 000 000	AIHW22	2014
National public hospital patient bed days	18 267 000 days	AIHW23	2014
ICU days	392 000 days	AIHW23	2014
Ward days	17 875 000 days	AIHW23	2014
Average national cost per hospital bed day (ward and ICU combined)	$A2433	Calculation*	2014
Cost per ICU bed day in 2002	$A2670	13	2002
CPI inflator (medical and hospital services)	2.3%	ABS14	2002–2016
Cost per ICU bed day in 2016	$A6141	Calculation†	2016
Cost per ward day in 2016	$A2351	Calculation‡	2016

*Total public hospital expenditure divided by the total public hospital bed days.
†Cost per ICU bed day in 2002 multiplied by the inflation factor.
‡Total public hospital expenditure, less expenditure on ICU days (applying the 2016 ICU bed day cost calculated in the second footnote), divided by annual public hospital ward days.
ABS, Australian Bureau of Statistics; AIHW, Australian Institute of Health and Welfare; CPI, Consumer Price Index; ICU, intensive care unit.