Is your aged care home ready for AN-ACC?

AN-ACC (Aged National Care Classification) is being talked about extensively at the moment, with many people trying to second guess what this will eventually mean. As things stand, it seems no one is certain about AN-ACC, and how the world will transition from ACFI. The challenge as a software supplier is to meet the requirements of legislation but predicting what the legislation is going to be make this more challenging.

Person Centred Software’s approach to AN-ACC

Most software used in social care in Australia has originated in Australia and has been heavily focused on ACFI. Person Centred Software has a different approach, we originated in the UK, and it has been a challenge getting ACFI embedded into our software because we didn’t start from this position. Person Centred Software was built from the resident up, as opposed to the funding down. When we started working in Australia, it became obvious that whilst the UK is very good at measuring quality, Australia has been much better at measuring quantity.

In the UK we have quality audits, performed by the regulators such as the Care Quality Commission (CQC). In Australia, it is the documented quantity of care that is measured due to the needs of ACFI. The Royal Commission report that prompted the objective of changing to AN-ACC highlighted that ACFI was a poor measure of quality and recommended a more quality led funding model. When the Royal Commission was published, we rejoiced in the fact that our product is largely in line with their recommendations, and we have been looking forward to the change coming to the sector as a result.

Are you ready for AN-ACC?

October is, or should I say, was, the date to introduce AN-ACC - and we are ready, we are already well prepared for Mandatory Care Minutes reporting as we have been measuring the time spent on care for years. But here we are, less than six months to go, and no clear guidelines as to what AN-ACC really means, and software built for ACFI has not got time to transition.

We are all used to ideals, and then the harsh reality falling short of the ideal. The Royal Commission highlighted the ideal. AN-ACC is grappling with reality. What that reality will eventually become is currently unknown, but as the founder of a UK product that is closely aligned to the recommendations of the Royal Commission, we hope that the ideals are not completely lost because they don’t need to be. Software can do quality, it is harder than quantity, but we have proven it is possible.

Get in touch with Person Centred Software

To discover how our mobile care monitoring software can prepare you for the change to AN-ACC before October, get in touch today and see how we can help!

Alternatively, read our complete guide to AN-ACC to find out what the change in funding model will mean for aged care homes across Australia.

Written by Jonathan Papworth, Founder of Person Centred Software.