The transition to payment in arrears is needed to prepare CHSP providers for the future Support at Home Program, which will incorporate fee-for-service payment based on actual services provided. Providers can navigate the transition process more easily with these changes.

As payments are tied to actual service delivery, they will be released automatically on the first of every month. This can be delayed only if the monthly reporting is not submitted by the 10th day following the month.

Monthly payments will ensure regular cash flow and help the organisation manage the transition to payment in arrears and any associated cash flow impacts. During the transition phase, the providers will be paid the July 2022 monthly payment in advance. Later, the August payment will be made at the start of September (the end of the month's reporting period).

CHSP providers are responsible for sustainably managing their service delivery and number of clients. A part of this will be managing their budget to ensure they have enough funding to support the business to deliver a month's worth of services before receiving the next monthly payment in arrears.

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Step by step Strategy and how Comm.care helps

The new upcoming CHSP reforms will kick in from July 2022 and require providers to start reporting monthly instead of quarterly. To cover the cost of this transition and associated cashflow impact,  providers will receive the  July 2022 monthly payment in advance. This gives you a good chance to select the right staff, services and IT system that you’ll need for your organisation.

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Step 1: Start planning and calculating your direct and indirect costs to determine the unit price for service.

1. The unit cost of a service is calculated by dividing the total cost of the service (both direct and indirect costs including overheads) by the total units or outputs of service (eg hours, quantity or dollar). The unit price that a CHSP provider receives for 2022-23 will depend on their service delivery history and previously funded unit price. 
2. Client contributions should be taken into account when reviewing the 2022-23 National Unit Price Ranges. CHSP providers are encouraged to review their client contribution arrangements. CHSP providers should ensure there is a clear expectation that where a client can afford to contribute to the cost of their services they do so.
3. Identify the Target Gap and make sure you include those while calculating the unit price.

Target Price Gap (Price difference)= Target Price (Price required for sustainable business)-Achieved Price (Price paid by funder).

Once you determine your services and unit cost, you are now ready to set up services in Comm.care with centralised pricing across your organisation which will be reflected in your reports. 

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Step 2: Monthly reporting means documenting in real time. This can be a game-changer in your business strategy as it not only requires you to be compliant but requires staff to undergo significant behaviour change. With Comm.care, once you have set up your services with correct unit pricing, you can assign the services to the appointments which will be reflected and auto-populated on the progress notes for your staff. So staff can easily document their notes on the go in minutes!

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Step 3: Once you get the monthly reporting ball rolling, you’ll be ready to claim monthly too to get started with the transition to provide better reporting and tracking of service delivery. The monthly payment in arrears will be the total value of the client's grant agreement divided by twelve. Payments are made automatically and will be released as long as the CHSP provider is up to date with their monthly performance reporting through DEX. Comm.care is directly integrated into DEX so all the requests are sent in real time! No need to report even monthly. Report as your document in real-time.

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From July 2022 the framework will have a renewed focus on ensuring a CHSP provider is meeting performance against their grant agreement. The first stage of any compliance action will be a discussion between the CHSP provider and the CGH.

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What is the point of the July 2022 advance payment?

All CHSP providers, excluding providers who only deliver SSD, will be paid a standard monthly payment. The standard monthly payment is the total value of the grant agreement divided by twelve. 

To help manage the transition to payment in arrears and any associated cashflow impacts, providers will be paid the July 2022 monthly payment in advance. The August 2022 payment will then be made at the start of September 2022. By receiving the July 2022 monthly payment in advance, providers will not have to wait four months for their next payment, noting the last quarterly upfront payment will be in April 2022. This means the maximum gap between payments will be three months rather than four months.

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Contribution Policy principles and how Comm.care contributes

Participants are the core part of the framework so this transition should focus on clients and the service delivery. To ensure compliance, providers need to adhere to the policies of the framework. See the contribution policies for the provision of CHSP services that should incorporate the principles below:

1. Consistency: All clients who can afford to contribute to the cost of their care should do so. Client contributions should not exceed the actual cost of service provision. With Comm.care efficient billing process, you can be ensured that the clients will only be charged as per the services agreed upon and rendered reflected in the documentation post-service delivery

2. Transparency: Client contribution policies should include information in an accessible format and be publicly available, given to, and explained to, all new and existing clients. January 2022 – 70. All client documents are stored in the a single view of documents feature ‘Timeline’. It lets all the staff who have access to the clients easily access and extract the documents on the go.

3. Hardship: Individual policies should include arrangements for those who are unable to pay the requested contribution. Store all the policies in one place and share them with staff and clients anytime. Checkout Manage organisation policies and procedures with Comm.care

4. Reporting: Grant agreement obligations include a requirement for service providers to report (monthly) the dollar amount collected from client contributions. With the integrated DEX reporting feature, providers will be reporting the service delivery along with the unit price charged in real-time from the app. 

5. Fairness: The Client Contribution Framework should take into account the client’s capacity to pay and should not exceed the actual cost to deliver the services. In administering this, service providers need to take into account partnered clients and clients in receipt of compensation payments and bundling of services. 

6. Sustainability: Revenue from client contributions should be used to support ongoing service delivery and expand the services providers are currently funded to deliver. With actual expenditure tracking, Comm.care provides utilisation of funds over time giving providers and clients a fair picture of how the funds are used and can help forecast service delivery. This prevents clients from running out of their funds and ensures sustainability for the organisation.

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Reporting to the Data Exchange (DEX) through Comm.care

Based on the CHSP Manual 2020-22, CHSP service providers are required to report the service delivery for each client and service delivered. Reports should include outputs, service types and the location of service delivery (based on the outlet location). This is used for the performance management of organisations against the key performance indicators (KPI) in CHSP Grant Agreements.

The DEX is also designed to manage data from providers using the Flexibility Provision. 

Management of program performance is undertaken by Funding Arrangement Managers to ensure that program objectives are being met and that program funds are properly accounted for.

With Comm.care direct integration to DEX, when the support workers create a Progress note based on an appointment in the calendar Comm.care will send the transaction to DEX to create the sessions as they occur. There is no need to compile all the occurrences into a convoluted XML file or manually enter hundreds of sessions on the DEX Portal at the end of the month.

So there you go! Get ready for the new CHSP framework and stay compliant with the new reporting requirements with Comm.care. Reach out to us to request a free demo!