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NOTES


INTRODUCTION

This publication presents estimates of the financial performance and workforce characteristics of private sector businesses and organisations involved in the provision of health care services, in respect of the 2009-10 financial year. These data are compiled from a directly collected survey conducted by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS). This is the third ABS survey of medical practitioner businesses and organisations with the previous collections being conducted in respect of 2001-02 and 1994-95, and the second ABS survey of allied health businesses and organisations with the previous collection being conducted in respect of 1997-98 for selected allied health businesses.

The following publications were released for the 2001-02 and 1997-98 reference period:

Private Medical Practitioners, Australia, 2002 (cat. no. 8689.0) - issued 29 October 2002

Private Medical Practices, Australia, 2001-02 (cat. no. 8685.0) - issued 18 December 2003

Audiology and Audiometry Services, Australia, 1997-98 (cat. no. 8554.0) - issued 28 June 1999

Chiropractic and Osteopathic Services, Australia, 1997-98 (cat. no. 8550.0) - issued 20 August 1999

Physiotherapy Services, Australia, 1997-98 (cat. no. 8552.0) - issued 31 August 1999

Dental Services, Australia, 1997-98 (cat. no. 8551.0) - issued 30 September 1999

Optometry and Optical Dispensing Services, Australia, 1997-98 (cat. no. 8553.0) - issued 29 October 1999


WHAT'S NEW IN THIS ISSUE

Users are advised not to make historical comparisons with previous iterations of this survey, as this survey was not designed to support accurate estimates of change over time. Please refer to Technical Note 1: Data quality (paragraph 17) regarding historical comparisons.


DATA VIEWS

Two views of health care services statistics are presented in this publication:

• an industry view in Chapters 1 to 5. This view presents data for businesses and organisations whose predominant activity is the provision of health care services. Industry data are classified according to the Australian and New Zealand Standard Industrial Classification (ANZSIC), 2006 edition (cat. no. 1292.0).
• a General Practitioner practice view in Chapter 1 commentary. This view reflects key performance measures of private GP practices. Practices are identified as a subset of the industry view for GPs and are based on a benchmark provided by the Australian General Practice Network.