Aged Care Insite Australia's number one aged care news source
Providers will see reforms to home care packages, a second deadline for the financial report and an updated star rating score in the first quarter of 2023.
Aged Care Minister Anika Wells introduced two pieces of legalisation in July 2022 in response to the recommendations made by in Royal Commission.
The changes included revisions to home care packages, a new star rating tool and an official code of conduct for providers and staff.
While the federal health department has uploaded guides to keep providers up to speed with reforms, it can be challenging to navigate the maze of Australia's aged care system.
Here's our guide to preparing for aged care reforms for the first quarter of 2023.
January
The federal health department updated the home care package manual to include the latest legislation changes.
Care management fees were capped at 20 per cent and package management fees at 15 per cent from January 1st.
The government also banned providers from charging exit fees, including brokerage and subcontracting fees.
The measure aims to prevent the charging of unnecessary administration fees and to open up funds for care recipients.
"HCP providers will need to review their current charges and agree to any pricing changes with their care recipients by January 1st 2023, ensuring they obtain informed consent for any changes," Wells said.
Other changes included how providers formulate a care plan, manage unspent funds and what services are excluded from the HCP.
The Serious Incident and Response Scheme (SIRS) also now applies to home and flexible care to "reduce neglect and abuse cases."
From February 27th, providers can no longer enter prices above the new caps in the Provider Portal, and any exit amounts will be removed.
February
The department introduced the Quarterly Financial Report (QFR) on top of annual reporting, with the first deadline of November 4th 2022.
The next QFR due date is February 14th 2023, covering the period from October to December 2022.
Providers can submit their files through the health department administration portal and need to respond to any government queries by March 7th.
The government uses data from the QFRs to monitor and benchmark the quality of services the sector provides.
The information also contributes to the star rating system's scoring of providers in My Aged Care.
The financial aspects of the QFRs are used to keep track of the sector's sustainability and whether the AN-ACC model is meeting expectations.
A food and nutrition questionnaire was also added to the QFR and replaced the basic daily fee supplement report.
The QFR's future deadlines are likely to fall on May 5th 2023, and August 4th 2023.
Moreover, the start of February marked the beginning of Residents' Experience Surveys.
Last year, the department interviewed close to 40,000 residents living across over 2,600 aged care homes.
These results were used in determining the star rating rankings of providers.
Up until October this year, health consultant IQVIA will contact providers to schedule dates of visits to complete the surveys.
Additionally, providers delivering homeless residential care services or to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples can receive a higher base care tariff rate under the AN-ACC funding model.
If providers want to keep the specialised status, they have until February 28th to lodge an application to the health department.
March
The department will update the current star ratings for aged care homes sometime in March after receiving the latest QFRs.
It warned that "late or non-submission of data will result in a 1-star rating for the relevant sub-category and reduce a service's overall star rating."
The next quarter of 2023 will mandate 24/7 onsite and on-duty registered nurses in all residential facilities from July 1st, 2023.
Providers are also expected to meet 200 minutes of care per resident by October 1st.
Do you have an idea for a story?Email [email protected]
Get the news delivered straight to your inbox
Receive the top stories in our weekly newsletter Sign up now
The new exclusions from the packages are very difficult for clients to accept. It seems our government has no understanding that our older citizens deserve to have some sort of lifestyle and not just exist. Some service providers were charging well over the accepted amount for case management fees and not actually providing a service letting alone managing the packages, however, once again those doing the right thing have been slapped with onerous expectations in case management, care planning and service delivery, instead of addressing and dealing with those doing the wrong thing. Monthly budgets also are ridiculous and stringent requirements need to be met for draw-down on unspent funds. I think we will see a lot of very good care coordinators leave this part of the aged care sector and be replaced by people who have little care or understanding. I find is hard to believe that industry leaders did not fight harder for our seniors. Disgraceful.