Home Care Pricing will become standardised from 1 July 2019 as part of improving the transparency for the consumer and allowing them to make more informed choices as to who they want to deliver their care and services.
Providers will publish their Pricing Schedules on the My Aged Care website, which will be available from April 2019, and include them in their Home Care Agreements.
Providers offering choice of services, including brokerage services will be able to enter minimum and maximum price points due to the varying prices between providers. Providers will also be able to charge different prices for regional areas taking into account variability in pricing.
The five common home care service categories will be:
· Personal Care
· Nursing
· Cleaning and household tasks
· Light gardening
· In-home respite
This is not an exhaustive list of services but helps with comparing the most common ones.
Care Management Costs include the cost of:
· Reviewing the Home Care Agreement and Care Plan
· Coordination and scheduling of services
· Ensuring the care is aligned with other supports
· Providing a point of contact for the consumer or their support network
· Ensuring care is culturally appropriate
· Identifying and addressing risks to the consumer’s safety.
Terminology – case management/care co-ordination will be referred to as Care Management.
Administration Costs will change to Package Management Costs and include costs for:
· Preparing monthly statements
· Managing Package Funds
· Compliance and quality assurance activities required for home care.
All the other costs previously included in the Administration Costs like office rent, marketing, insurance etc. will be no longer chargeable in this format. They may be included in the unit price for services as these form part of delivering the service.
Providers will have a 12 month period to incorporate the Schedule into their Home Care Agreements and Individualised Budgets.
If you are interested in digitising your consumer on-boarding which will incorporate all of the changes mentioned above, contact Debra Ward via the Care Collaborator web page: www.carecollaborator.com.au, email debra@carecollaborator.com.au or mobile 0438 020 728.
