Pip Toman

Home aged care provider Silverchain Group has partnered with the National Ageing Research Institute (NARI) to develop a new framework to help in-home aged care providers implement technology-supported services. In what is thought to be the first guidelines specifically for older people and the aged care workforce in the Australian in-home aged care setting, the framework has been informed by several studies conducted at Silverchain. #ehealth #healthit #digitalhealth #PulseIT

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Are you prepared for the future of Aged Care? 🏠💻 Don't miss out on our FREE webinar tomorrow at 12:00pm AEST as our expert Nicole SH Chen provides you with the tools and knowledge to navigate the evolving landscape of Aged Care. What you'll learn: ✅ Understanding the transforming Aged Care industry: Gain insights into the factors driving change and how to adapt. ✅ Navigating challenges and capitalising on opportunities: Discover potential areas for growth and strategies for overcoming hurdles. ✅ Technology as a game-changer in Aged Care: Explore practical ways technology can enhance service delivery and compliance. If you want expert advice on how to future-proof your Aged Care facility, sign up for the webinar today. Sign up here 👇 https://lnkd.in/gTJfCyq2 #Ideagen #IdeagenCompliSpace #AgedCare #Technology #Webinar

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The Financial Struggles of NDIS Providers: A Call for Change It’s no secret: the financial health of many NDIS providers is alarmingly precarious. In the 2021-22 financial year, a staggering 68% of providers reported a loss. The average financial return was a 2.6% loss, with a quarter of providers experiencing at least an 8% loss. Even the most profitable providers reported a mere 1% profit – far from sustainable. The trend continued into 2023-24, with 64% of providers reporting losses in the first six months. Predictions for 2024-25 suggest a grim outlook: over 76% of benchmarking providers are expected to operate at a loss, marking three consecutive years of financial strain for many. Reserves and morale are dangerously low. The Flawed DSW Cost Model - The NDIA’s pricing model assumes that only the top 25% of providers should be profitable, pushing others to become more efficient. However, many costs – inflation, NDIA billing changes, increased obligations, and insurance – are beyond providers’ control. The Ability Roundtable urgently calls for a pricing model rethink to prevent quality decline in services Efficiency Vs Sustainability - Providers are becoming more efficient, reducing overheads from 32.5% to 19%. Yet, significant losses persist. Cutting overheads risks compromising quality, especially with rising NDIS obligations and stagnant cost model caps Salaries & Compensation Challenges - Support workers' salaries have risen, with 83% earning over $35/hour in 2023-24. This is crucial amid rising living costs but highlights flaws in the DSW Cost Model. Workers’ compensation premiums have also surged, with 87% of providers paying above the model’s assumptions. The average premium has risen from 2.5% to 2.8%, with some providers facing rates above 10% Urgent Call To Action - :The one-size-fits-all approach of the DSW Cost Model is untenable. An independent pricing function, separate from the NDIA, is essential to monitor and set fair NDIS pricing. Providers are doing their best in a challenging environment, but we need systemic changes to ensure sustainability and quality of service. It’s time for the NDIA to listen and act. Every day, our staff go above and beyond, driven by a passion to help. But passion alone can’t keep the lights on. We need systemic change to ensure our sustainability and quality of service Please, if you’ve read this far, share your thoughts, share this post, and help us amplify our plea for change. Together, we can make a difference. #NDIS #DisabilitySupport #SystemicChange #FinancialStrain #SupportOurWorkers

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Forcing the responsibility of receiving protected disclosures on every aged care worker is one of the weirder parts of the proposed new Aged Care Act. Once a disclosure is made the person receiving it will have an obligation to protect the identity of the discloser. That is tricky in the best of circumstances. But disclosures will usual relate to something going badly wrong. What if the disclosure involves a reportable incident? What if there is a risk to a client, but escalating the issue might identify the discloser? What if it seems like the discloser might have engaged in misconduct themselves? Consumer groups and unions argued at the Inquiry that consumers needed to be able to make disclosures to any worker. But that's a complaint system not a whistleblower scheme, isn't it? Obviously complaining to any worker should be fine. Having a discussion with a colleague about suspected problems is also fine. Comparing notes is a good thing. But will colleagues want to listen to each other's concerns if it means they may now find themselves in receipt of protected disclosures? I have never heard anyone say they feel they need statutory protection to talk to a colleague. It's just so strange. #agedcare

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Those with an eye on the NDIS space will know there is legislation before the government that will make changes to the NDIS that will result in savings and Mr Bill Shorten is saying delays in approving this legislation will cost $1BN or more. I've tried to understand where these savings will come from. As far as I can understand most of the savings will come from clamping down on automatic top ups of NDIS plans. These review requests are more commonly known as "Change of Circumstances" requests. Where supports are increased due to change of circumstances and a review is requested. Mr Shorten roughly describes these situations as dishonest providers encouraging clients to overspend to get automatic top up, and a loophole in the system that needs closing. I believe the outstanding review requests have approached 50000+. The NDIA are getting about 2500 of these requests per day. If you have an outstanding plan review request, I would be concerned. I believe that when this legislation is passed many of these outstanding review requests will be labelled as "automatic top-ups" and the requests denied and savings achieved. I think the cost clock that Mr Shorten uses to coerce the other parties, is likely those plans review requests that are being slowly approved,  and hence "costing" the government. (*I am a little confused about what is happening exactly, but if the above is close to the mark... it looks worrying)

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The Department of Health and Aged Care just published the Home Care Package - Published Pricing Schedule - 30 June 2024 which shows the national median prices for common home care services including care management and package management fees. Home care providers, well worth a look to ensure you are operating in a competitive space. Link: https://lnkd.in/ekkjDrNM Please note that it comes in an excel version so you can have a play with how you want to sort the data, even better. #homecarepricing #pricingdata #homecarepricingcomparisons #

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A major part of our service involves visiting residential aged care facilities with the families who are looking for care for their loved one. Sometimes the person to be placed into care will visit too. This is the most important part of the selection process. It is difficult to predict which factors will weigh most heavily with a client. As we are all different, we all place different weight on what we consider to be most significant. Quality care should be a given at all the facilities we tour, and therefore other factors should be more influential. Of course, price can be a major factor too. There is a wide range of Refundable Accommodation (RAD) or Daily Accommodation Payment (DAP) prices and in most cases it is a matter of getting what you pay for. In my experience, the “vibe” of the facility is most important. It is helpful to be at a facility when activities are taking place and clients can observe the interactions between residents and staff at first hand. If you would like to chat about your or your loved one’s care options please contact us. For more information of our aged care placements, please see attached link in the comments. 🔗 #healthcare #allaboutagedcare #agedcareplacement #homecare #agedcareconsultants #retirementliving #respitecare #agedcareplacementconsultants #perth

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Do you want to elevate your care standards and operational efficiency in Home Care? 🏠💻 Tune into our FREE on-demand webinar to gain valuable insights around: ✅ The importance of compliance and the relationship to providing proper care for consumers ✅ Key challenges in service delivery and requirements under the Aged Care Quality Standards ✅ Common roadblocks for a mobile workforce and practical tips on how to combat issues to improve service delivery If you want to take your skills to the next level, watch the webinar today. Access it here 👇 https://lnkd.in/g8s9JHWv #Ideagen #IdeagenCompliSpace #HomeCare #AgedCare #Compliance

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How does the MyIntegra NDIS Plan Management portal work? Here's a quick explainer! You can do many things on the MyIntegra portal, including: 👀 monitor your budget ✅ check invoice statuses 💵 and reserve funds for preferred providers. Access to your NDIS budget has never been more convenient! Find out more at https://lnkd.in/g39euvri. #PlanManagement #NDIS #MyIntegra

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Have you read the draft National Nursing Workforce Strategy? ❌ No real discussion of nurse graduate numbers, or how to increase them ❌ Migration barely mentioned ❌ No concrete discussion of whether/why more nurses are leaving the profession. ❌ Most recommendations are motherhood statements (e.g. enable nurses to work to their optimum scope of practice in all settings). We have enough people who want to be nurses. Increasing the nursing supply is a production problem. Fundamentally, it is a solveable problem. At least in the medium-term. And it has real implications for the cost and quality of health services. There has been at least year to work on this. I think it is reasonable to expect some sort of practical roadmap. Maybe the issue is the national cabinet process? This doesn't seem like is a wicked problem. As far as I can see it isn't political. It will clearly save money, and probably lives. I'm not saying that there is a magic bullet. I think it'll probably be a lot of hard work. But nothing about it seems intractable. If you share my concerns, you can provide feedback on the draft here: https://lnkd.in/gkCQg8xK #agedcare #health #nursing

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