A ministerial briefing from ACT Health director general Michael De'Ath to Health Minister Meegan Fitzharris also suggested a "one strike and you're out" policy for patients who refuse a specific surgery date.

The suggestions - aimed at reducing the need for additional funding in future years - were made in a ministerial brief created by ACT Health staff and obtained by the Opposition through freedom of information laws.

ACT Health has set a target of completing 14,000 elective surgeries in 2018-19 to account for increasing demand and ballooning wait times.

The brief said the increased target would be achieved by using private providers and transferring a large number of surgeries to Calvary Public Hospital.

Surgeries performed at Calvary Public Hospital would increase by more than 20 per cent, compared to a historical annual average of 2.95 per cent.

The document made a number of suggestions to reduce the need for more funding in future years, including capping the cost of primary joint replacement prosthetics at $9500, which would be expected to save the government $750,000 a year.

It suggested a change to elective surgery policy which would force doctors to give patients a surgery date within 30 days to be accepted as category one.

The briefing said this would result in a decrease in category one patients and improve health's reported data.

The briefing suggested long wait patients be subject to a "one strike and you're out" policy if they are not able or choose not to take an allocated date for surgery.

It said removing patients "not geographically associated" with the ACT from the wait list would decrease net additions to the waitlist by 237 - mostly from NSW.

A spokeswoman for Ms Fitzharris said none of the measures had yet been introduced.

Interstate patients would continue to be treated in the ACT when there was a clear reason for it, she said.

"Canberra Health Services considers that at times, it can be more appropriate for the patient to have their surgery closer to home when those services are available; unless there is a clear clinical or social reason for the patient to access specialist treatment in the ACT," the spokeswoman said.

"Canberra Health Services will always continue to provide clinical services to its surrounding regional communities within NSW, as it provides tertiary facilities for the region."

The spokeswoman said capping primary joint replacement meant there would be more funds to treat additional patients.

"Primary joint prosthetics can vary significantly in price," she said.

"If this was capped to a median price across the range, then savings realised through this process could fund more procedures, except in circumstances where there is a specific clinical requirement demonstrated, for a more expensive implant."

Opposition health spokeswoman Vicki Dunne said some of the measures should be categorically ruled out, criticising the proposal to exclude interstate patients from ACT waiting lists.

“The Canberra Hospital is classed as a major metropolitan hospital servicing the needs of patients in the ACT and region," she said.

"Other jurisdictions pay the ACT for services provided to their constituents.

"To exclude them from wait list reports is just another attempt to manipulate the data to produce artificial results.”