It’s part of our growing focus on using advocacy as a means of raising levels of awareness of the benefits of competition and through this, raising levels of compliance with competition and consumer laws.
We identified the health sector in our Statement of Intent 2012-15 due to the size of the sector and its significance to the New Zealand economy.
The Commission plays a key role in promoting competition in markets and ensuring consumers are well informed. We have a responsibility to educate businesses and the public about their obligations under competition and consumer laws to purposefully lift awareness, understanding, and compliance.
The health sector is under pressure to modernise its services and business agreements in response to many factors including: a growing and aging population; financial constraints; increasing costs; a shortage of healthcare professionals; the development of new and innovative technologies; and increasing expectations from the public. There is a greater emphasis on shifting to more integrated models of care with better coordination and collaboration between different health professional groups.
Over the next two years we are developing and implementing a health advocacy project which focuses on increasing understanding of and compliance with competition and consumer laws among health professionals. Specifically professionals include those working as clinicians, in businesses and for associations.
We will develop guidance for professionals in the health sector on topics specifically relevant to them. This could include information on price setting, agreements and understandings, and council/association/society obligations. These are possible areas where health professionals may be at risk of breaching the law or are missing an opportunity because they don’t understand the law.
The Commission is currently surveying health professionals to assess knowledge of competition and consumer laws. Results will be used to inform and focus the Commission's education efforts over the next few years.
