Takeaways from the Government webinar: Publishing provider reporting

December 4, 2023 | Aged Care Reform

Last week, the Department of Health and Aged Care (the Department) conducted another webinar, providing an overview of how providers’ operational and financial data will be published on My Aged Care from February 2024, aiming to increase transparency.

Here are some highlights from that webinar that you may have missed:

Timing of next QFR reporting

We now know that the Quarterly Financial Report (QFR) application is available through the Government Provider Management System (GPMS). QFR submissions for Quarter 2 2023/24 (reporting period 1 October – 31 December 2023) will open on 1st January 2024 and are to be completed via GPMS.

_{Figure 1 Key dates (Source: https://www.health.gov.au/sites/default/files/2023-11/publishing-provider-reporting-for-stakeholders-and-the-community-webinar-slides_0.pdf)}

Financial and operations preview and publication

From mid-February 2024, residential aged care and home care finance and operations information will be published on My Aged Care using the ‘Find a Provider’ tool. This will include:

Providers’ Operations (residential and home care providers)	Providers’ Finances (How much money is being spent by residential facilities on…)
Key personnel	Care and nursing
Governing body statement and membership	Food
Service provision and use	Accommodation and maintenance
Food preparation	Cleaning and laundry
Diversity and inclusion and	Administration
Feedback, complaints and improvements.	Income and surplus/deficit budget positions and
	Provider-level information on minimum, maximum and average hourly wage rates for registered nurses, enrolled nurses and personal care workers/home care workers

The Department will use the wage rates reported by providers through the QFR for Quarter 4 2022-23 and Quarter 1 2023-24 for this publication, scheduled for late December 2023.

Provider dashboard visuals in GPMS and examples of intended data presentation on the My Aged Care website have also been shared. You can see these on the slides here.

What to consider when you preview your information?

During the two-week preview period in mid-January 2024, the Department encourages you to consider:

Is your data complete and correct?
What questions you may receive and how to prepare for them?
How older people and others who are interested in your service may view this information?

If you are feeling any uncertainty about your data being published soon, please contact us for a more detailed discussion on how this affects your business.