Aged Care eNews

Aged care reforms 'Living Longer. Living Better.'

On 20 April 2012, the Australian Government announced a comprehensive package of reforms to build a better, fairer, more sustainable and more nationally consistent aged care system.

The ‘Living Longer. Living Better.’ aged care reform package aims to create a flexible care system. It will provide older Australians with more choice, control and easier access to a range of services—where they want it and when they need it.

This package provides funding of $3.7 billion over five years from 1 July 2012, and will position Australia to meet future social and economic challenges brought on by an ageing population. This will also ensure that there is a smooth transition for care recipients and providers and sufficient time to adapt and plan ahead.

These measures will provide more support and care in the home, better access to residential care, more support for those with dementia and strengthen the aged care workforce.

The Department of Human Services will be involved in implementing a number of reform changes over the next two years which will include:

• upgrading existing infrastructure to provide more efficient service delivery within the aged care program
• modifying how aged care payments are processed, to ensure providers receive eligible entitlements in a timely manner, and
• introducing means testing for older Australians receiving home care packages.

For more information about the aged care reforms, visit humanservices.gov.au

The Department of Health and Ageing is also publishing regular updates in relation to the aged care reforms. Visit health.gov.au

Key personnel—do you know who yours are?

To register for access to the Aged Care Online Claiming (ACOC) website, the relevant authorisation form must be completed and signed by key personnel within your organisation. Key personnel are the nominated persons who are registered with the Department of Health and Ageing.

Adding, ceasing or changing the role of key personnel within an approved provider:

A change to key personnel occurs when a person leaves a key personnel position or when new people become key personnel—including the case of a person returning to a key personnel position.

Under section 9-1(1) of the Aged Care Act 1997, approved providers are required to notify the Department of Health and Ageing within 28 days of changes to key personnel. You can do this by using the Notification of key personnel changes form on their website.

For more information visit the Department of Health and Ageing or call the Aged Care Information Line on 1800 200 422.

Aged Care Approved Provider Statement

In 2011 we made changes to the Aged Care Approved Provider Statement to make it easier for you to do your business with us.

If your organisation is registered for Aged Care Online Claiming, you will no longer need to complete the provider statement. The terms and conditions for Aged Care Online Claiming encompass the Aged Care Approved Provider Statement terms and conditions.

If you are not registered, the provider statement which you completed in 2011 will be valid until 30 June 2014 and now only needs to be submitted every three years.

View the current online claiming terms and conditions at Aged Care Online Claiming.

For more information visit humanservices.gov.au or call 1800 195 206*.

*Call charges apply

User access review for Aged Care Online Claiming

We are taking steps to strengthen user access security of the Aged Care Online Claiming system, by introducing six-monthly user access review for services.

It’s planned that the first review will commence in October 2012. This will involve automatically deactivating users who have not accessed the Aged Care Online Claiming system during the previous six months. At the same time the department will notify services by providing a report to them listing the users that have been deactivated from using the system.  

If a user needs to have their access reinstated, the service’s key personnel will be required to complete the relevant Registration for Aged Care Online Claiming form.

We will remind you about the October 2012 review in the next edition of Aged Care eNews.

Telehealth consultations within aged care facilities

In 2011 telehealth was introduced Australia-wide, allowing eligible health professionals and residential aged care services to help their patients have video consultations with specialists. Aged care residents have significantly benefited from telehealth as they no longer have to travel great distances to see specialists.

The uptake of video consultations within residential aged care facilities has increased since the introduction of financial incentives being offered by the Australian Government to facilitate these consultations. These incentives include a one-off On Board Incentive payment as well as ongoing service incentives.

An example of telehealth in practice, is when Ella, an 82-year-old female saw her General Practitioner about a suspicious looking mole on her arm. Her doctor then referred her to a Dermatologist for further investigation.

The aged care resident did not have any family who lived close by to take her to the appointment. To attend, she would have to arrange non-urgent patient transport or endure a 40km bus trip without any support. To overcome these barriers, an alternative way for the patient to see the specialist needed to be considered.

Her aged care residence had recently installed video conferencing equipment, which allowed her doctor and the Director of Nursing to arrange a specialist telehealth consultation for the following week. The doctor supported the patient and specialist throughout the video consultation, allowing the specialist to recommend a course of treatment that the patient was able to immediately commence.

The patient was able to access quality health care in a timely manner and in a familiar environment. Without having telehealth facilities available, she would have had to delay the specialist appointment and the treatment she needed.

For more information on telehealth call 1800 222 032, email telehealth@humanservices.gov.au or visit humanservices.gov.au/healthprofessionals

Improvements to eACCR search coming

In September 2012, enhancements will be made to the Aged Care Online Claiming (ACOC) website.

Data-matching criteria will be strengthened and will improve your success rate when searching for an eACCR for a person who is not in your care.

You will also notice some changes to the screen used to submit an individual’s Medicare card details. Simple instructions will be visible on the screen, explaining how to correctly enter the required information.

These enhancements will assist aged care services to retrieve an eACCR successfully, when prompted to provide Medicare card details.

Explore humanservices.gov.au

You can now see Child Support, Medicare and Centrelink payments and services in one convenient place, humanservices.gov.au

You told us you needed easy-to-understand information that helps you to access support. The new website uses plain language, with benefits and services grouped by common life situations.

This makes it simple for you to see what other support may be available.

To access the Aged Care section of the humanservices.gov.au website, go to Health Professionals > Aged Care, where you will find payment information, news for aged care providers and access to online services.

You can help us to shape the site by taking a short survey—you’ll find a link at the bottom of every page on humanservices.gov.au

Correction to 2011–12 Aged Care Oxygen Supplement payments

An error has been identified in the payment of Aged Care Oxygen Supplement for the 2011–12 financial year. The calculation to determine the rate of Oxygen Supplement for the 2011–12 financial year did not take into account that 2012 was a leap year of 366 days.

The calculation used to determine Oxygen Supplement in 2011–12 was:

• $10.06 per day x 365/12 = $305.99 per month.

The correct calculation is:

• $10.06 per day x 366/12 = $306.83 per month.

How will payments be fixed?

On 23 June 2012, a correction was applied to the aged care payment system to fix the error. Monthly claims for Commonwealth Subsidy calculated and processed after this date will also receive an adjustment to previously paid 2011–12 Oxygen Supplement payments.

What do I need to do?

No action is required, however you should look for any adjustments for Oxygen Supplement payments on your monthly Explanation of Payments (Payment Statement).

For more information call 1800 195 206*.

* Call charges may apply.

Hints and tips

Events processing—to avoid held claims, enter and transmit your events into the online claiming system throughout the month as they occur, rather than entering them all at the end of the month.

By doing this, your claim will be less likely to require manual intervention and it may assist in finalising your claim faster.