In this episode of PodMD, NAB’s Head of Behavioural and Industry Economics, and author of the NAB Health insights report, Dean Pearson, will be discussing the 2025/26 NAB Health Insights Report (Part 1). We discuss the key findings of the report, including Australians’ satisfaction with healthcare in Australia, mental health, visitation, patients’ perception of the “value” of health practitioners, and more.
Reference:
2025/26 NAB Health Insights Report
- Transcript
Please note this is a machine generated transcription and may contain some errors.
*As always, all in this PodMD podcast is intended for health professionals and the comments are of a general nature. Information given is not intended as specific medical advice pertaining to any given patient. If you have a clinical issue with one of your patients please seek appropriate advice from a colleague with expertise in the area.
Today I’d like to welcome back to the PodMD studio Dean Pearson, Head of Behavioural and Industry Economics at NAB. Dean leads a team of analysts responsible for providing unique insights into consumer and business behaviour by intersecting economics, psychology and advanced data analytics. As a behavioural economist and commentator with almost 30 years’ experience, he has worked to debunk the view that humans are rational, clear-thinking beings. Instead, we behave and make choices that are often illogical and based on emotion. And, if we are to truly understand the economy, it is important that we know the underlying emotional state and motives of the people who work and live within it.
*We do hope you enjoy this podcast, but please remember that the information discussed here is of a general nature and is not intended to serve as advice. The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of NAB Health, not PodMD. NAB Health reminds you that any information or opinion in this podcast is general in nature and does not consider your personal objectives, financial situation or needs. Nothing in this podcast is a recommendation and you should seek independent professional advice before making any decisions based on the information in this podcast.
Dean, thanks for talking with us on PodMD today.
Dean: Thank you. It’s great to be back on the podcast.
NAB has recently released its annual health survey of the health system with a particular focus on health practitioners. Can you please remind us why NAB undertakes this research?
Dean: Well, Australia’s health system is consistently ranked amongst the top performing globally for outcomes. And through NAB Health, we provide specialist banking and finance solutions for healthcare professionals and businesses. And really, we just wanted to help our health practitioner customers to better understand how their patients feel and what they really value from them. So this year, again, we’ve asked a really large representative sample of the population to share their experiences with the health system and their interactions with practitioners. And we think these results will provide some really quite real and actionable insights. We know that for many healthcare organisations, their future growth will really depend on how well they understand what it takes to keep their patients loyal. And while patients are becoming a lot more demanding, they’re also very clear what matters to them. And even amongst those who are highly satisfied, most still believe that there’s more that can be done and expectations are certainly still rising.
Question 1
So what’s the key takeaway from this year’s survey?Dean: Well, it’s especially pleasing to report that there appears to have been some real improvements in the patient experience. Overall satisfaction improved for most practitioner groups, and that really is a terrific result. We’ve also seen switching rates easing a little. There is an important caveat in this though, because this year we also asked how likely Australians were to recommend their health practitioner to a friend or colleague and what it suggests is there is still more to do to actively drive patient advocacy. When searching for a new doctor or any health professional really, most Australians say, convenient location is their top issue. Patients also increasingly want convenience, whether it’s from their mechanic, from their retailer, or even their GP today. But this really is a complex interplay, where consumer demands for convenience exist alongside a continued desire for strong, personalised, and trust-based provider relationships. Bulk billing and ease of getting an appointment is also really extremely important for patients, along with convenient hours, affordable pricing, recommendations from family members, and medical and professional training and qualifications.
Question 2
Okay, let’s delve a little deeper into some of the key findings. Can we start first with the health system as a whole? How satisfied are Australians with healthcare in this country, and why should it matter whether patients are satisfied as long as they are receiving good healthcare?Dean: Sure, let me answer the second part of your question first. Why should it matter whether a patient is satisfied? And I think the simple answer really is a satisfied patient is more engaged with their care, they’re more likely to follow advice, and most importantly, they’re more likely to become a loyal returning customer. So it really sees patients as consumers of health services, which really then requires practitioners to start to address key issues beyond medical care. And in terms of satisfaction, Australians are still only moderately satisfied with the system itself. Interestingly, though, while overall satisfaction has slipped a little this year, it improved in rural areas. And this is important. Over 28% of the population live in rural and remote Australia, and they face some quite unique challenges and often much poorer health outcomes, including high rates of hospitalisation, deaths and injury. They also, of course, have poorer access to and the use of primary health care services. It is also encouraging though that Australians who require ongoing treatment or medication for a medical condition, and that’s around 4 in 10 people, and therefore they’re much closer to the system itself, they remain much more satisfied than the wider population. And again, amongst those with an ongoing condition, satisfaction in rural areas rose sharply.
Question 3
And what about mental health? What did the survey show here?.Dean: Here again, there is some better news this year. Now we can see that many Australians continue to struggle with their mental health. However, the number who reported being diagnosed with a mental health illness or disorder over the past 12 months continues to fall. Now, I’m sure as a GP would say, that does not necessarily mean actual rates of mental illness are falling. We know GPs are finding more and more people presenting with mental health challenges. It could reflect more professional help being offered though. Indeed, We can see that more Australians report getting the help they needed. So again, it’s pleasing to report that a significant improvement occurred in wait times for mental health support, with one in three Australians able to access care in less than two weeks. However, people in capital cities continue to be able to access care more quickly. So the wait times of more than six months remain over three times more prevalent for those Australians living in rural areas.
Question 4
I know one area you look at each year is visitation. Who are the most commonly visited health practitioners and have there been any changes?Dean: Well, not surprisingly, it’s GPs, pharmacies and dentists. They remain the most commonly visited and obviously central to the healthcare system. Most importantly though, visitation rose solidly across a range of practitioners, but particularly for GPs. Eight in 10 Australians told us that they’d visited a GP over the past year. That’s up from 7 in 10 last year, making GPs their most highly utilised and access health professionals within the system. Now, the number of patients who saw their GP face to face the last time they visited has increased to 93%. And this very much closely aligns with their preference. Of course, telehealth is important, but it’s very much complementary too, rather than a substitute for face-to-face care. There was also an increase in visitation to optometrists, pharmacies, specialist doctors, chiropractors, osteopaths and physiotherapists. But while visitation’s up, a large number of Australians continue to tell us that they should have visited a health practitioner more often, particularly a GP or a dentist. One in five Australians who failed to visit a health practitioner despite believing they needed to, missed a dentistry or GP visit. Australians are much more vigilant in caring for their animals than they are for themselves. Only 2% of the population report missing a necessary veterinary appointment. Now by comparison, 4 in 10 Australians have not been to a dentist in the past year alone. 13% of the population have not visited a dentist in over five years.
Question 5
I suspect I know the answer to the next question, but what is the key reason patients are not visiting health practitioners as often as they should? And have there been any changes?Dean: Well, I’m sure you’re not going to be surprised to hear that affordability remains a really key obstacle to care. Overall, many Australians believe the prices of services charged by health practitioners has continued to rise over the past 12 months. Importantly though, the number of patients reporting higher charges was basically unchanged or a little lower for all health practitioners. The greatest number of health consumers believe the cost of vet services has increased over the past year. That’s followed by psychologists or psychiatrists, chiropractors, osteopaths, physiotherapists and dentists. And when patients were asked why they had not visited a health practitioner, cost again featured prominently. And we can see that the importance of costs as a reason for deferring care has been particularly noticeable in dentistry in recent years. Interestingly, though, the most common reason for not visiting a GP was because patients believe they are able to manage their condition themselves. So people are increasingly self-managing health conditions. Now, while it’s important for patients, obviously, to actively participate in their own treatment, there’s clearly no substitute for professional care. And also for GPs, a lack of time to visit has also become a bigger issue.
Question 6
With cost of living pressures continuing to add to a collective sense of financial stress among Australians, how important is bulk billing for patients?Dean: Well, the importance of bulk billing when selecting a doctor continues to rise, particularly amongst the lower income earners. But the number of people who considered it extremely important has now touched 7 in 10 amongst the whole population. Now, that’s only slightly lower than about 8 in 10 of those on lower incomes. Now, as you know, surveys of GPs show a really high percentage reluctant to join an exclusively bulk billing model, even with the new government incentives, that it doesn’t address a number of concerns about short consultation times or inadequate funding for comprehensive care. Psychological issues remain the top reason for patient presentations, reflecting ongoing mental health challenges. And the RACGP continues to advocate for more funding support for longer consults to ensure GPs can better support patients needing complex care. We also know that female GPs on average spend more time with their patients and that can lead to lower remuneration as the system really is still not adequately rewarding time spent on complex issues like mental health and women’s health. Now, while the importance of bulk billing continues to rise, the share of Australians self-reporting they were bulk billed the last time they visited their GP continues to fall. It was 58% this year. Now, this compares to official bulk billing rates, which will appear higher than that because they often represent the percentage of services bulk billed, not the percentage of patients who are bulk billed.
Question 7
Last time we spoke, you said cost of care does not always equate with overall value, which captures something beyond monetary terms. Have there been any changes in patient perceptions of the value of health practitioners?Dean: Australians continue to believe that they’re receiving very good or even excellent value from all health professionals, and more importantly, they scored almost all practitioners higher for value this year, including GPs. But when we asked what a health practitioner could do to offer better value for money, there were no shortage of suggestions from patients how value could be improved. Many said they were frustrated that practitioners were charging a fee but never really fixing the problem, of booking a longer appointment, of only to spend less than 10 minutes with issues left unresolved, of stopping charging above the Medicare threshold and if you do, to give patients more time, of believing there should be loyalty discounts, for long-term patients, of having to go overseas to get surgery for a third of the price. So I think there’s a really clear danger here in simply focusing on cost and potentially ignoring other factors which help determine value for a health consumer.
Question 8
One of the reasons often cited for why Australians are satisfied with their health care is ease of access stemming from the universal health care coverage provided by Medicare and the option for private health insurance, which ensures most citizens can access essential care and have choices regarding providers and services. How did patients perceive access to a health practitioner this year?Dean: Encouragingly again, Australians also reported it was easier to see most health practitioners. Overall, they said pharmacists are still the most accessible, but that was followed by optometrists, chiropractors, osteopaths, physiotherapists. Australians also report it was quite easy to see a dentist. GPs were unchanged. But once again, when we asked, well, what could a health practitioner do to make it easier for you to see them, patients provided plenty of feedback. They want more bulk billing. They’re frustrated by the need for ongoing referrals, of the need to be on time for appointments when sometimes they’re late, of feeling like there’s overbooking, of wanting more availability on weekends, of wanting pre-warning when a practitioner is considering leaving the practice, wanting more online booking systems, wanting to eliminate unnecessary appointments for things like prescriptions, wanting more follow-ups, and wanting more reminder emails if they hadn’t heard from a patient for a while.
Question 9
Your research has also highlighted that feeling listened to is particularly important to patients. What were the findings this year in this key area of the patient experience?Dean: You’re right. This is a really key concern amongst patients. You know, there are studies that suggest a range of 12 to 23 seconds that patients are typically allowed to speak before the first interruption. Less than one in three are allowed to complete their opening statement. However, again, encouragingly, Australians felt a little better heard than last year and by most practitioners. When we asked what could a health practitioner do to make you feel more listened to, your patients say it’s hard to discuss a complicated issue in just 10 minutes, that they want doctors to ask more questions about them, including how they feel about the course of their treatment, to look towards them when talking, to not simply stare at their computer, and the importance of not judging them for their lifestyle choices.
Question 10
Along with listening, feeling cared for as a person by a health practitioner is also extremely important and can help foster trust and adherence to treatment plans, leading to improved health outcomes and higher patient satisfaction. What were the findings this year?Dean: Yes, being treated with dignity, having concerns addressed, being actively involved in decisions, they’re all incredibly important to patients. And encouragingly, again, this year, patients also felt a little more cared for. Now, these sort of numbers can still mask the fact that there are ongoing patient concerns. When we asked, well, what could a health practitioner do to make you feel more cared for? Patients say they want doctors to be more calm while speaking to them. They want them to find out more about their mental health status, not just their physical health. They want them to listen to their concerns without judgment. They want you to stop rushing them, to take more time in being caring and empathetic, to take more time to hear their full story, and to contact them for a follow-up to see how they’re doing.
Question 11
You told us earlier that Australians were only moderately satisfied with the healthcare system as a whole. What about satisfaction with health practitioners themselves?Dean: Yeah, and it’s a really important distinction because while Australians were only moderately satisfied with the healthcare system as a whole, satisfaction has improved or was unchanged for almost all practitioners. Overall, satisfaction scored highest for chiropractors, osteopaths, and physiotherapists, overtaking optometrists, then vets, dentists, and specialist doctors. Satisfaction also improved for GPs. So on a 1 to 10 basis, it’s gone up from 7.8 to 8 out of 10. Now it’s the over 65s though that continue to report the highest satisfaction for nearly all practitioners, but especially GPs. But even amongst those health consumers that scored practitioners highly, when you invite them to share what they believed could be done better, there’s no problem at all for patients to detail lots of things they believe that could be improved. And I think this really does prevent a really great opportunity to get closer to patients. And it’s why we think this report’s so important.
Question 12
I also remember last time we spoke, you told us that sometimes an aggrieved patient can be the most insightful. What did the survey find this year among these less happy patients?Dean: You’re right, I think there are some real benefits to listening to more disgruntled patients. And I should say because the average scores that I’ve presented here of most patients are so high for health practitioners, we had to focus on those who typically scored seven out of 10 or lower. So you’re still getting good scores, but amongst that group, the top response was being offered better value for money, followed by shorter waiting lists, feeling listened to, more time with them, being more friendly and respectful, having a better understanding of what they needed to do to prevent or minimise their symptoms, understanding how to prevent further problems and longer hours. Now, for GPs, a much higher than average number of patients believe overall quality of care would be improved if the GP was able to spend more time with them and had shorter waiting lists.
Question 13
Thanks, Dean. Can you sum up for us the key messages from this year’s survey?Dean: Sure. Well, I think importantly, while visitation has risen solidly, particularly for GPs, many patients still believe that they should have visited more often and cost was really a key factor here. Now, most Australians believe the price of services charged by health practitioners has continued to rise and bulk billing is becoming even more important. But cost does not necessarily equate with value, which remains high for most practitioner groups. Encouragingly, Australians also reported it was easier to see most health practitioners. They felt better heard and more cared for.
Now, patient satisfaction remains much higher amongst those with an ongoing health condition. And importantly, there’s been a significant uplift in satisfaction amongst patients in rural areas. But the survey all suggests that there’s more that could be done to drive patient advocacy. Patients are growing more comfortable switching providers, although that rate of switching has stalled for now.
And finally, I’d say value for money, long waiting lists, and not feeling listened to are the really key factors driving patient dissatisfaction. But overall, though, there’s been some real improvement made in the patient experience. Now, when you’re getting satisfaction scores of around 8 out of 10, it would be very easy to be complacent, but patients clearly want more than just good care. One in three Australians are choosing to defer a visit to the doctor because they believe they can manage the condition themselves. But while patients are clearly more demanding, they’re also really clear what matters to them. You just have to ask them.
And I think, you know, patient stories are critical. They’re critical for uncovering unmet needs, improving services and ensuring that what is being measured is truly what matters to patient care. Now, I’d also say most patients will not remember every instruction, every diagnosis, or every test they’ve received. What sticks with them is their treatment.
Did they feel safe and cared for? Did someone pay attention to them? Did they feel respected? Did they, in the words of one patient, feel they were not only looked at as a patient, but as a person? Now, in an environment where value for money is increasingly important to health consumers, it’s these types of factors that I believe doctors can influence most and ultimately may well provide the biggest return on driving patient loyalty. And if this year’s report is any guide, more of you are actually delivering in these key areas of patient experience.
Thanks again for your time and the insights you’ve provided.
Dean: You’re very welcome and thank you again for having me.
