Following recommendations from the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety to improve the transparency and reliability of the My Aged Care Find a Provider Tool, the Department of Health and Aged Care is changing the way that specialised aged care services have their information verified.
According to the Department of Health and Aged Care, specialist aged care providers are those who:
The types of specialised services offered by aged care providers include services for:
It is important that providers delivering these kinds of services have this information publicised on their profile, both to show that they go above and beyond the minimum standards of care and to help connect people in the community with providers that best understand their needs.
The new rules mean that aged care providers that publicise themselves as providing a specialised service must receive independent verification to display this information on My Aged Care. This must be completed by 27 February 2023, after which the specialisations will no longer appear on the provider’s profile unless it is verified.
In order to become verified, aged care providers must provide evidence that they meet certain requirements relating to the type of specialisation that they are claiming. Providers can review the Specialisation Verification Framework to see the types of evidence required for each specialisation.
Aged care providers who wish to verify their specialisations can do so through the My Aged Care Service and Support Portal. Applications will be verified by Australian Healthcare Associates, who are providing an independent assessment service for the Department. Once verified, specialisations will remain valid for three years.
Aged care providers who currently promote themselves as specialised providers have until 27 February 2023 to provide evidence of specialisation and have their status verified.