Recent reports show that many Aged Care Facilities are still struggling with their use of the ACFI tool, more than 2 years after it was commenced.
A recent SBBS (Stewart Brown Business Solutions) report states that “More operators are starting to understand the instrument better and are better able to maximise their funding under it,” but also that “Those that have not made this leap are performing worse than ever.” Whilst there is improvement, a majority of facilities are still failing to achieve an operating profit.
This is re-enforced by the fact that even the top 25 facilities which provided the highest level of care, in the SBBS report, average net operating profit of only $20.60 per bed per day. However, the final result showed an overall net operating loss equivalent to $1.76 per day, for the very same facilities.
With only 42% of facilities involved in the study making a profit (out of a total of 432), there appears to be plenty of room for improvement. Slow gains are being made:
- 38% of high care facilities making a profit in 2010 compared to just 32% in 2009
- 44% of low care facilities making a profit in 2010 compared with just 40% in 2009
This unfortunately highlights that there is still plenty of room for improvement.
Problematically, the trend toward rising utilities prices and costs across the board, is going to stretch the aged care dollar even further and residential facilities will need to look more actively and specifically at improving their ACFI returns.
Wellness & Lifestyles Australia Consultancy branch has been able to assist our valued clients in maximising their ACFI income, a process which has held up through the Validation processes across Australia. In some cases, as much as $500K in revenue has been identified by simple changes such as changing documentation procedures and implementing systems to identify mismatches between clinical needs and current ACFI rates. The bonus being that resident outcomes and satisfaction levels have also shown a marked increase.
With the ACFI subsidy cap being reached after June 2011 and a potential maximum claim of $177.83/day for the most dependant clients (an increase of almost $45.00/day on RCS classification level 1 grand-parented claims) now is a perfect time for an extra set of eyes to review your ACFI procedures and ensure you are maximising your submissions.
