Cost-effectiveness and efficiency review of the NRAS in Australia

Background

In June 2014, the Professional Standards Authority, working in collaboration with the Centre for Health Service Economics and Organisation (CHSEO), was contracted to review the cost-effectiveness and efficiency of the National Registration and Accreditation Scheme for Health Practitioners (NRAS) in Australia.  This review was one element of the broader three year independent review of the NRAS, commissioned by the Australian Health Workforce Ministerial Council (AHWMC).  In undertaking our part of the review, we applied a methodology developed specifically for assessing the cost-effectiveness and efficiency of professional regulatory arrangements developed when the Authority, again working with the CHSEO, was commissioned by the Department of Health in 2011 to conduct a review of the nine UK health and care regulators.

Summary

In the report we calculated an annual operating cost of the NRAS of $214,117,803.  This equates to $346 per registered health professional.  We also calculated the operating costs for each of the national boards, and analysed the data in terms of the complexity of regulating different professions.  We compared the cost of regulatory functions in Australia with the UK, finding that while the unit cost per registrant in the UK is slightly lower than in Australia, there are a number of factors which prevent a direct comparison of relative efficiency.  We identified a number of potential area for cost savings, and offered a number of conclusions and recommendations.  We submitted our final report in October 2014.

The full report of the broader review of the scheme, and our report, were published in August 2015.