Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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162. To ask the Minister for Health the extent to which cost comparisons continue to be made between public and private sector hospitals, in respect of various procedures; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15144/15]

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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Cost data in relation to public hospitals are collected by the hospitals and collated centrally by the Healthcare Pricing Office (HPO). These data are used by the HPO to set prices for the Activity Based Funding (ABF) system which is in the process of being implemented in public hospitals.

ABF represents a major change in the way hospitals are funded and will result in a new level of focus on hospital costs. The new funding model involves moving away from inefficient block grant budgets to a new system where hospitals are paid for the actual level of activity undertaken. Under ABF, the prices to be paid to hospitals will be set by reference to the average cost of treatment across all public hospitals. By setting prices based on average costs, hospitals will be incentivised to better understand their cost-base and improve efficiency.

Patient Level Costing and Business Intelligence systems are also being rolled out across the hospital system to support implementation of ABF. The introduction of these systems will allow hospitals to interrogate their cost data in greater detail than was possible in the past and will also allow hospitals to compare their costs with peer hospitals. This will facilitate greater engagement by doctors with their own data, support improvements in the quality of patient care and help to drive efficiency.

Data relating to the cost of private hospitals are not collected or verified by my Department or the HSE/HPO. As such, cost comparisons between the public and private hospital sectors cannot be made.