An interactive, invite-only networking event on home care co-hosted by Lorraine Poulos and Associates, StewartBrown and Maddocks kicked off yesterday evening with discussions from Maddocks partners Lucille Scomazzon and Angela Wood on the challenges their clients have been facing.
A lot of the questions they have been asked are related to mechanisms for price increases over time, Ms Scomazzon said, explaining the “easiest default way” is to note in the service agreement that the consumer price index will be applied on 1 July each year.
“That at least gives you the ability to put your prices up by CPI on 1 July,” she said. “Now, this all might become moot in a new world with pricing, but let’s tackle that one when we get to it – and it allows you to do that by notification as opposed to agreement.”
Another mechanism for price changes is to have a set percentage that is higher than what CPI may be, but Ms Scomazzon emphasised the need for caution when setting it at an arbitrary number like 20 per cent.
“Because if you don’t have a basis for choosing 20 per cent and figuring out whether that is indicative of what you’ve seen in the past, what it might be indicative of projecting forward, you could get yourself into a bit of strife there and come under scrutiny from the regulator,” she said.
A lot of organisations are bringing in new board members, and it is essential they are well informed on all aspects of the regulations and obligations, not just the parts relevant to their expertise, Ms Scomazzon reminded attendees.
She encouraged providers to do a little housekeeping with their board members, and ask themselves:
- do you have deeds of access, indemnity and insurance in place?
- do you know who the responsible people are under the new definition?
- has the director and officers policy been reviewed lately?
- is there a board charter?
- is there a quality care advisory body and consumer advisory body?
- does the QCAB and CAB speak to each other and evidence that the governing body is well positioned to provide the care and services provided in accordance with the Statement of Rights and the Code of Conduct?
It’s also important providers set themselves up in a consistent and sustainable way to meet requirements, Ms Scomazzon noted, particularly with obligations like privacy policies and complaints processes.
Privacy policies need to accurately explain the way data is collected, used, handled and disclosed by the organisation and off-the-shelf models are not enough.
“In your businesses, you have a very rich source of data. It is sensitive information by virtue of what it is, right? So if you don’t have a privacy policy on your website, think about doing that. If your privacy policy says only what happens on your website and things about cookies and whatnot, it’s not doing the job,” she said.
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