Prestigious Fellowship to honour the work of Medicare cocreator

Friday, May 27, 2022

The Australian Healthcare and Hospitals Association (AHHA) has today awarded the inaugural Deeble Institute Fellowship to Professor Henry Cutler, Director, Macquarie University Centre for the Health Economy (MUCHE).

Named in honour of Professor John Deeble AO (1931-2018), health economist, co-architect of Medicare, founding director of the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, and namesake of the Deeble Institute for Health Policy Research (AHHA); the Fellowship is awarded to an outstanding mid-career researcher with a background in health economics and whose research commitment reflects Professor Deeble’s legacy of universal healthcare through affordable, quality healthcare for all.

‘Professor Cutler is a worthy recipient of the Deeble Institute Fellowship 2022, recognising his commitment to health economics, social policy and improvement of the Australian healthcare system’, says Acting Chief Executive AHHA Kylie Woolcock.

Professor Cutler is a well-respected health economics expert, and has led several high profile projects relating to value-based care and healthcare financing including work with the Aged Care Financing Authority (ACFA), National Mental Health Commission, the Australian Bureau of Statistics and the Department of Health and Ageing.

During the course of his Fellowship Professor Cutler will examine the shifts in financial risks associated with advancing value-based healthcare in Australia.

‘Alternate funding models are often seen as the key to advancing value-based care, but the shifts in financial risk that this can involve are often not holistically acknowledged or well understood,’ says Ms Woolcock.

‘It is critical that investments are made to enable data-driven improvements in the health outcomes of Australians, but targeted work is required to understand how and at what levels within our system we use funding models to best incentivise such improvements.

‘Changes to funding models must consider the impact on each service within a person’s full care pathway, not services in isolation.’

How our health system manages the shifts in accountability and risk associated with value-based healthcare will be central to driving better quality care and lower health costs.

Earlier this year, MUCHE joined the Australian Institute of Health Innovation, Macquarie University as a highly valued research centre.

For more information regarding the Deeble Fellowship, you can contact the Australian Healthcare and Hospitals Association by emailing admin@ahha.asn.au or phoning +61 2 6162 0780.

The Australian Healthcare and Hospitals Association is the national peak body for public and not-for-profit healthcare.

Media enquiries: Kylie Woolcock, Acting Chief Executive, AHHA
0410 625 830