A damning investigation into a controversial tool used to determine aged care funding found it to be “clinically insufficient” and in danger of under-assessing the needs of vulnerable seniors. Source: Daily Telegraph.
The Australian and New Zealand Society for Geriatric Medicine (ANZSGM), the peak body for doctors who specialise in the care of the elderly, called for the federal Government to launch an urgent review.
It comes after specialists forensically analysed the Integrated Assessment Tool’s (IAT) manual and found it failed to capture the complex realities of ageing.
The IAT, which uses an algorithm to spit out automated funding results, has been slammed by aged care providers, advocates and older Australians themselves, after humans were removed from being able to override any rogue decisions on November 1 when new reforms came in.
Among the findings of the ANZSGM investigation is that the IAT’s rigid design systematically under-identifies frailty and clinical complexity.
The report warns that if the tool is not fixed it will lead to hospital admissions.
“This is not a technical paperwork issue; it is a clinical safety issue,” a spokesperson for the society said.
There have been 834 requests for review since November 1, when humans were no longer able to change the result when it was obviously wrong.
Shadow Minister for Aged Care Anne Ruston, independent senator David Pocock and Greens spokesperson Penny Allman-Payne requested documents on how the decision to remove human override was made.
Senator Ruston said she was concerned that the decision was based on budgetary concerns not clinical ones.
Minister for Aged Care and Seniors Sam Rae said only 0.5 per cent of the total number of people assessed since November 1 had asked for a review, suggesting it was not a problem.
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Doctors warn tool to determine aged care funding is a ‘clinical safety issue’ (By Julie Cross, The Daily Telegraph)
