Success in Support at Home
5 minute read
I thought it would be good to start this year with a bit of positivity, before the grind of the changes ahead sets in. I reckon the best way to do that and remain true to my cynicism about what’s coming is to focus on what we as a sector can do to prepare for success in Support at Home.
I frequently refer to my decade of experience in the NDIS as a reference point for Support at Home. That’s because the basics are the same, both are a move to market based services (with fixed prices) driven by the rhetoric of consumer rights. So, I will continue to lean into the lessons of the NDIS as I provide some reflections on what we need to do to get ready for Support at Home.
The SaH focus on markets fundamentally changes provider's relationship with government. Even if you have already made some of this shift in home care package provision, lots more of this sort of change is coming - such as the removal of package management funding and the stripping back of care management fees (and we have yet to see what will happen to grant-based funding in CHSP).
In Support at Home your two most important relationships will be firstly with participants (and the people or organisations that refer them to you) and secondly with the Quality & Safety Commission who is there to check-up on you. Your work will need to increasingly respond to what participants want and what the regulator demands.
Your organisation will need to be a lot more flexible as changes will occur far more quickly than in the past. Prices for what you do are likely to change on a regular basis and compliance will continue to ramp up (as it does). The services people want will change as the boomers arrive while you still have to support your much older participants who need you to stay ‘old school’.
Your organisation will need to be able to continuously respond to these ongoing changes and that’s a lot easier to say than do. The lessons of the NDIS and the keys to success are in your people, your financial oversight, your approach to compliance and your business systems.
We will cover each of these success factors in detail in forthcoming articles, briefings and our conferences, but the following is a quick overview of each. Many of you will already be doing this stuff but it’s a good time of year to review and plan for 2025.
People
The great news is to succeed in SaH you are going to need an organisational culture where people feel valued. This will mean that all staff feel a sense of belonging and have a strong sense of autonomy in their work. Knowledge about SaH will need to be distributed throughout the organisation with everyone knowing the significant bits they need to know. For example, the new pricing will be (more of) a nightmare if frontline staff do not understand the basics.
You need reasonably tech-savvy staff at all levels who are willing to change as SaH changes around you. We no longer need people who do what they are asked, we need people who know what to do and get on with it.
Which is a great segue to talking about organisational structure. For sure, margins are going to get further squeezed in SaH. As the StewartBrown surveys keep telling us - our management and admin costs are killing the surplus. You are going to need a shedload of packages to defray these costs or better still, don’t have unnecessary people in layers. It’s time to get a flat management structure (or if you already have one I reckon you love it).
Finances
You only have two levers to pull for financial success in SaH, costs and revenue. Both need to be constantly reviewed, remaining viable is as simple and as complex as that.
Costs will be driven in large part by how productive your workforce is, which in turn will depend on how motivated people are, their training, the systems that support them and the layers of staff you have in your organisation. And as for physical asset costs, reduce your reliance on offices and all that gear. Covid taught us about reducing office use, let's not forget. And, the smart organisations are going mobile-first, enabling frontline staff to use their own devices.
Revenue is a biggie too. Pricing will be a major challenge this year. You will need prices that are competitive but what will that look like as everything changes? Keeping an eagle eye on what others are doing and good old fashioned networking are going to be vital. We know having lots of packages will also help with revenue but how will you attract new participants? Success will rely on a marketing strategy that emphasises great relationships with the people who refer and understands the power of ‘word of mouth’ - that says you are doing great quality work.
Compliance
Do not leave ‘quality’ to the experts in your organisation to implement. To comply with the new Standards, staff at all levels will be required to understand the required outcomes, take action where needed and show evidence. They will need to understand how your quality system works and explain how it assists them to identify and meet your obligations. Your approach to quality needs to be viewed as vital by everyone and embedded in everything you do.
If you haven’t done it already, review your current policies and procedures with a critical eye, noting the new ‘outcomes’ focus and the big emphasis on the consumer.
Systems
You’re going to need some excellent systems, but it’s really easy to over-spec what you need. Business systems will need to be fit for purpose and are likely to require change from the current set up. If in doubt, use the KISS principle for all processes and paperwork.
Do not build your own software, do not buy stuff with features you will never use and do invest in software that supports frontline efficiency. Make sure you buy software that integrates with your other software and gives you data you can use. Do not get a committee (or the Board) to tell you all their requirements, they will give you an expensive shopping list of features that no one will ever know how to use. Software is one of the keys to success and can be your biggest nightmare.
Success in 2025
It will be a year of challenge and change. There are so many factors to consider but ‘flexibility’ is the one-word summary that comes to mind that will underpin success in Support at Home. It’s not going to be easy but it's an opportunity to build a stronger organisation united by a common challenge.
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