Activity-based funding for safety and quality: A policy discussion of issues and directions for nursing-focused health services outcomes research.

Aims: A discussion of the implications and opportunities arising from the Commonwealth of Australia health care reform agenda; linking pricing with quality, with particular reference to directions for nursing-focused health services outcomes research directed to improve the safety and quality of health care practices.

Background: National activity-based funding in Australia is a policy-focused development. As the relationship between cost and quality becomes apparent, the role of clinicians and their contribution to high quality care has become a pressing issue for leadership, teaching, and research.

Design: Discussion paper DATA SOURCES: This paper is based on seven years' experience as a member of a Commonwealth of Australia statutory committee-the Clinical Advisory Committee of the Independent Hospital Pricing Authority-and is supported by relevant literature and theory.

Implications For Nursing: To date, unravelling the linkage, especially causal relationships, between direct care nursing and patient safety outcomes has not been well established. New activity-based funding data elements developed for national implementation in Australia provide accessible and meaningful standardised data for measurement of never events, hospital-acquired complications, and preventable readmissions.