This is the second edition of a bitesize Health Performance Council report pinpointing potential health inequalities by analysing South Australian public hospital data, looking for hospitalisations that are potentially preventable, variation by where people live in the state, and opportunities to improve.

Current national health policy emphasises costly and unsustainable scaling up of healthcare volume and perpetuates ongoing inequities in access to care. This paper presents a case for national health policy reform to drive improved health outcomes through embedding principles of value-based healthcare in national policy.

This report describes trends in the occurrence of injuries requiring hospitalisation in Australia, for the 10-year period from 1 July 2007 to 30 June 2017. The annual number of cases rose from about 400,000 to 530,000 during this period.

In 2017–18, an estimated $185.4 billion was spent on health goods and services in Australia. This equates to an average of approximately $7,485 per person and represents 10% of overall economic activity for this period.

This report outlines the future of pharmacy - where these digital systems provide seamless, more customised clinical care and better medicine outcomes. It suggests that digital transformation will piece together Australia’s healthcare system and provide an unprecedented opportunity to increase the quality of patient care.