New quality indicators: Will lifestyle care minutes add to your reporting headache?

Residential aged care providers face a quick turnaround to prepare for new quality indicator reporting as additional staffing reporting requirements are likely to stretch already strained resources. 

Key points

• From 1 April 2025 (quarter 4, 2024-25), residential care providers will start collecting data for enrolled nursing, allied health and lifestyle officers as part of new staffing quality indicators
• The department says the new quality indicators will make sure the valuable work of these staff members is properly measured and recorded 
• The new quality indicators are also viewed as a solution to concerns that the 24/7 registered nurse requirement could lead to a decrease in enrolled nurses, allied health and lifestyle services

Previous comments by the Department of Health and Aged Care have suggested that providers are already collecting the relevant data for staffing quality indicators as part of their Quarterly Financial Report (QFR). 

Mirus Australia General Manager Tom Murphy told Hello Leaders that this is certainly the case for enrolled nursing data. Relevant information is already collected as part of care minute reporting. 

However, lifestyle officer and allied health care minute reporting will likely produce additional hurdles for providers to overcome. 

As per the department’s QI Program reference guide:

“The lifestyle officer quality indicator will use diversional/lifestyle/recreation/activities officers residential labour costs and hours data submitted through the QFR.

• Where diversional/lifestyle/recreation/activities officers are employed in hybrid roles, you should split payments based on the time you allocate to each role
• Where diversional/lifestyle/recreation/activities officers work across separate facilities, you should split costs based on the time you allocate to each facility
• Only include diversional/lifestyle/recreation/activities officer costs for government-subsidised residential aged care residents (including those receiving residential respite) under the Australian National Aged Care Classification (AN-ACC) funding model.”

One of the biggest challenges according to Mr Murphy will be when providers have to collect and report data for lifestyle staff working in hybrid roles. 

He said providers must be careful when including staff under certain categories as the department is specific about who can be included under direct care and additional staffing quality indicators. 

“What we’re seeing, rightly or wrongly, is the lifestyle officer being categorised as direct care for part of their day which is getting picked up during some of the care minute audits we’ve been involved in,” he explained.

“You shouldn’t be claiming direct care for those roles. However, the argument against that is if you look at the list of direct care activities lifestyle teams are involved with, it is direct care. It’s not clear-cut in all instances. 

“The challenge is how do you separate what that person’s doing, what part of their day is lifestyle/diversional therapy and what part of the day is direct care. With modern technology that’s easier but for organisations operating on legacy systems or manual reporting that’s a bit of a challenge.”

The allied health quality indicator presents its own difficulties. Providers reliant on external allied health staff will rely on their data coming through on time. Any delays related to invoices or timesheets could jeopardise reporting punctuality. 

“This submission needs to be made in a timely manner. You need to be working closely with your allied health providers to say ‘I need this data by this date’. If not, that’s a problem because providers are not going to meet reporting responsibilities,” Mr Murphy added. 

“That process is burdensome today unless providers incorporate external staff into their rosters. It’s a hard task.”

Meanwhile, providers will also have to report on the number of residents who should have received treatment and those who have received treatment. Mr Murphy said this information must be captured effectively to avoid any issues. 

Digital maturity is a top priority

As the sector prepares for more reporting requirements, digital maturity and readiness are essential. However, a Digital Maturity in Aged and Community Care report from early in the year highlighted that digital maturity in the sector is low. 

Mr Murphy stated emphatically that providers struggling with reporting need to modernise their systems. 

He believes a digital transformation strategy that puts data at the heart of it – alongside residents themselves – highlights how important data truly is. There needs to be recognition and understanding of how data is collected, how efficient systems are and how easy it is to analyse and report on the data.

“That’s the level of agility that providers need for changing requirements around reporting. I don’t imagine this is going to be the last change we’ll see by any stretch. Being agile means you need a modern data-centric approach,” he said.

With aged care operators now capturing data for QFRs, quality indicators, care minute targets, star ratings and more, regardless of overlap between data utilisation, time is often the enemy. 

Mr Murphy said most providers spend at least two days collecting and reporting data for the government with one client spending more than 80 hours a month on the tedious task. ‘Every provider we talk to, they’re just exhausted,’ he added. 

Time is also running out. Many organisations will lose weeks of planning and preparation due to Christmas and school holidays. All organisations are also working towards new requirements through the Aged Care Act, including Support at Home and strengthened Quality Standards. 

“I don’t think all providers will be ready from day one. We’re still seeing finessing and polishing of reporting care minutes. We’ve been doing that for two years and are still working out the kinks. The department is obviously changing things around that so it’s been in the state flux that entire time,” he said. 

This is why he places so much emphasis on digital maturity and agility. Providers with the right systems and support are best suited to meeting incoming requirements. 

Cost is arguably the greatest hindrance. The department’s $10,000 contribution to providers updating IT systems is unlikely to have a meaningful impact. 

The department’s website has a range of resources and information related to the Quality Indicator Program to help providers understand their new requirements and responsibilities.