Support at Home: what providers should be measuring

Why measurement matters more under Support at Home

• Budgets are quarterly. Participants can carry over unspent funds only up to the greater of $1,000 or 10% of their quarterly budget, so under-use and over-use both need early visibility.
• Providers deliver first, then claim. Cash flow depends on accurate records and timely claims.
• Prices are set by providers. Without a clear cost-to-serve, pricing decisions are guesswork.
• Funding timeframes matter. Participants who do not start services within the allowed time can have funding withdrawn, and providers must notify Services Australia within 28 days of services starting.

Five groups of measures worth tracking

1. Participant budgets and utilisation

• Percentage of each participant's quarterly budget used, by month and by classification
• Participants forecast to finish the quarter with unspent funds above the carry-over cap
• Unspent funds carried over from Home Care Packages, tracked separately
• Care management cost against the amount allocated for it

Why it matters: under-use can mean unmet need, and over-use can mean a budget runs out before the quarter ends.

2. Service delivery and responsiveness

• Time from funding becoming available to first service delivered
• Hours delivered against hours planned in each care plan
• Cancellations and missed visits, split by provider-initiated and participant-initiated
• Notification of service start to Services Australia within required timeframes

Why it matters: delays and gaps affect both care and funding.

3. Workforce capacity

• Shift fill rate and unfilled requests
• Travel time as a share of paid time
• Worker retention and turnover
• Hours paid versus hours claimable

Why it matters: workforce availability usually sets the ceiling on how many participants you can serve well.

4. Financial performance and cash

• Cost per delivered hour and margin by service type
• Revenue per participant and by classification
• Claims submitted compared with services delivered
• Days from service delivery to payment, and the rate of rejected or adjusted claims
• Participant contributions invoiced and collected

Why it matters: these show whether your prices cover your costs and where cash is getting stuck. Providers have reported claim delays, while Services Australia has said most claims are processed within two days. Whichever view is right for your organisation, measuring your own claims-to-payment time lets you see the facts.

5. Quality, safety and compliance

• Incidents by category and timeliness of reporting
• Complaints received, resolved and time to resolution
• Reassessment requests when needs change
• Progress against the strengthened Aged Care Quality Standards

Why it matters: strong records support better care and make audits and regulator reporting easier.

Common pitfalls

• Different definitions. "Utilisation" can mean budget spent to finance, hours delivered to operations, and worker productivity to rostering. Agree one definition for each measure.
• Data that does not reconcile. Rosters, service records, claims, payments and contributions often sit in separate systems.
• Averages that hide problems. Look at results by participant, classification, service type and region, not only the overall average.
• Too many measures. Start with eight to ten that your leaders will actually review.

Where to start

1. Align: decide which decisions your reporting must support, such as pricing, rostering and board oversight.

2. Verify: agree definitions, data sources, owners and baselines, then check that records reconcile.

3. Build: put in place a regular review rhythm, for example monthly operational review and quarterly board reporting.

4. Improve: use root cause analysis on the biggest gaps, test changes and measure whether they work.

Support at Home will keep evolving. Providers with trusted measures will be better placed to respond. A Free Aged Care Health Check can show where your definitions, data and reviews stand today.