Boutique management consulting firm HealthConsult has been awarded the $1.2 million contract to pilot proposed Quality Indicators for Home Care, and is recruiting for providers to take part.
HealthConsult also has an $8 million contract with the Independent Health and Aged Care Pricing Authority (IHACPA) for its 2024 Residential Aged Care Costing Collection.
Three QIs will be piloted, with data collected between October and December 2024.
The Australian Government committed to introducing a Home Care Quality Indicator Program in the 2021-22 Budget, but the Program is not expected to be rolled out until 1 July 2026, 12 months after Support at Home is introduced in the new Aged Care Act on 1 July 2025. A pilot for Home Care QIs was postponed in 2022.
It's proposed that QIs will eventually be developed in seven areas:
- Consumer experience
- Quality of life
- Function
- Service delivery/care planning
- Workforce
- Weight loss/nutrition, and
- Falls/fractures/injury.
Home care QIs were a recommendation of the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety.
Expressions of interest close 30 September 2024 and can be submitted here.
