Hospital Avoidance program

Detailed information for care recipients can be found here.

Download a printable version of the Hospital Avoidance brochure here.

Consider our Hospital Avoidance program, or HACC Hospital Avoidance Packages (HAP).

Suitability

Patients are suitable for referral if:

• Home Support Programme (Cwlth or State) eligible (includes carers)
• Patient has someone with them at home or an identified support person who is in regular contact.
• Assessed by a health professional to be at risk of unnecessary hospitalisation: E.g.
• Emergency Department Triage Category 4 and 5 patients (with lower acuity) presenting to hospital for admission;
• Patients who have been admitted to hospital and are able to be safely discharged early following a short admission (e.g. a short stay patient)
• GP patients assessed as safe to return home with support of a package.

Purpose

The Hospital Avoidance program provides short-term intensive home support services for patients at risk of unnecessary hospitalisation.

The program aims to prevent unnecessary presentation, admissions and readmissions to hospital, and support early discharge from hospital, for HACC eligible patients who can be adequately cared for in the comfort of their own homes, but who require a rapid response of support services.

The program offers

The program provides basic (non-clinical) HACC support and care in the home for clients, through the
provision of client care coordination by Care Assess health professionals.

The HAP program provides HACC eligible clients with the following services for up to 4 weeks.

• Client care coordination (RN) including intake coordination (rapid response) plus monitoring and review throughout package.
• Domestic assistance and personal care service-contracting (brokerage/subcontracting).
• Meal requirements referral/coordination (coordinated and referred but not paid for by HACC).
• Nursing care referral/coordination (normally be referred separately and directly to TasCarepoint/Gateway or Community Nursing)
• Nursing visits to monitor aspects of client’s care will be provided where required if alternatives are unavailable (Limited).
• Allied health in the home will be provided where appropriate through in-home services of an Occupational Therapist (OT) (Limited).

How this service works

Individualised packages of short term services, primarily domestic assistance and personal care will be coordinated independently by Care Assess through a rapid response team comprising an Intake Coordinator (RN) and a Client Care Coordinator (Health professional) to ensure good clinical governance.

• Hospital staff or other Health Professional (e.g. GP) will conduct the assessment and make the referral to Care Assess
• Care Assess will work closely with Hospitals and GPs and patients at risk of unnecessary hospitalisation by implementing service commencement as soon as possible, and coordination of responsive services, with service commencement in the home of the client within one business day of referral if possible.
• A Care Assess Intake Coordinator will confirm program suitability (including HACC eligibility) and acceptance into the program subject to the patient’s requirements, service availability, and Coordinator confirming appropriate unmet care needs can safely be delivered in clients home to ensure quality of care.
• Care Assess will coordinate and contract services to one or more direct-care service providers who can best meet the patient’s needs.
• A Care Assess Client Care Coordinator will monitor service provision to ensure quality and safety by conducting informal monitoring and formal review with both consumers and service providers during and at the end of each program.
• Care Assess’ program funding will pay for all home support services excluding meal preparation.

Funding and fees

• This program is supported by funding from the Australian Government under the Commonwealth Home Support Programme (Cwlth or State) for people aged 65 years or older (50 or older if Aboriginal), and by the Tasmanian State Government for people under the age of 65 years (under 50 if Aboriginal).
• Clients with the capacity to pay will be required to make a contribution to the cost of care by way of a co-payment per hour of in-home service:

- Pensioner from $5.00 per visit, to an upper limit of $10.00 per week

– Non-pensioner from $20.00 per visit, to an upper limit of $30.00 per week

• However we will assess your capacity to pay and no client will be denied a service they need based on an inability to pay fees. Our Fee Policy is available upon request.

Detailed information for care recipients can be found here.

Download a printable version of the Hospital Avoidance brochure here.

Disclaimer: Although funding for this program has been provided by the Tasmanian and Australian governments, the material contained herein does not necessarily represent the views or policies of the Tasmanian and Australian governments.