On 19 July last, the Ireland East Hospital Group (IEHG) held its first Activity-Based Funding (ABF) Showcase Event at the Catherine McAuley Education Centre on Nelson Street.

The event was designed to showcase the successes achieved so far by IEHG hospitals in developing an ABF committee, and to promote knowledge sharing across our hospitals.

Activity-based funding (ABF) describes the provision of funding to hospitals based on the number and mix of patients that they treat. In an ABF scheme, a hospital receives a payment for each patient encounter. The exact payment for a given encounter depends on the type and complexity of the individual case.

IEHG were delighted to welcome two guest speakers to the event - Dr Colin Davenport, Consultant Endocrinologist at St Columcille’s Hospital, Loughlinstown and Brian Donovan, Head of Pricing at the HSE Healthcare Pricing Office. Dr Colin Davenport presented on the project he has developed in partnership with St Columcille’s HIPE coding team to audit their HIPE coding records and develop communication links between the clinicians and Finance/HIPE, while Brian Donovan presented on the role of data quality in an ABF environment.

There were also presentations from the National Maternity Hospital, St Vincent’s University Hospital and Our Lady’s Hospital Navan on their hospitals’ progress and achievements in establishing an ABF committee.

The next IEHG ABF Showcase is scheduled for February 2019 in Oak House, Naas, Co. Kildare.

The hospitals that are due to present at the next showcase are the Mater Misericordiae University Hospital, the Royal Victoria Eye and Ear Hospital, Cappagh National Orthopaedic Hospital, Regional Hospital Mullingar, Wexford General Hospital and St Luke’s General Hospital, Carlow/Kilkenny.