Australian National Aged Care Classification (AN-ACC) – classifications, reclassifications and reconsiderations in the My Aged Care Service and Support Portal

Welcome to this training video, which is part of a series of videos that will provide you with guidance on how to use some of the key features in the My Aged Care Service and Support Portal.

In this short video, we will show you:

• the steps you need to take for a permanent (non-palliative) resident to receive an AN-ACC classification.
• how to request a reconsideration in the My Aged Care Service and Support portal
• and how to request a reassessment (which may result in a new classification) if a resident’s care needs have changed.

This slide shows the process of a new resident entering a facility for permanent care.

For a new resident to receive an initial AN-ACC classification, you will need to submit the entry information to Services Australia.

You can do this via your existing channels to Services Australia. This may be using the Services Australia Aged Care Provider Portal, Business to Government channel (B2G), through the software on your desktop - provided by your software vendor, or the paper based Aged Care Entry Record (ACER).

This should be done as soon as the possible but no later than 28 days of the resident entering care. It is to ensure a referral for an AN-ACC assessment is issued and that the resident is assessed in a timely manner.

An AN-ACC assessment will generally be undertaken within 28 days of you submitting your entry record.

While you wait for your resident to be assessed, a default classification will be assigned. The default classification is equivalent to AN-ACC class 8 which is the average funding amount for all residents in care. You will receive funding at this default rate from the date of entry until the resident is assigned an assessed AN-ACC class.

Once the resident is assessed, the default class will be replaced with the AN-ACC class and your funding will be adjusted from the original date of entry based on the assigned AN-ACC class.

What is a reconsideration?

If you do not agree with the AN-ACC class that has been assigned to the resident, you can request a reconsideration through the My Aged Care Service and Support Portal.

A reconsideration must be requested within 28 days of an AN-ACC class being assigned.

You can set up system notifications to help notify you when residents have a class assigned so your can meet the deadline. 

What is a reclassification?

A reclassification should be requested when a client situation changes.

Please note, the ability to request a reclassification or a reconsideration is based on the access permissions in the My Aged Care Service and Support Portal. Only registered staff at your organisation who have a ‘Team Lead’ role in the My Aged Care Service and Support Portal will be able to request either a reclassification or reconsideration.

How to view or filter clients by AN-ACC Class in the My Aged Care Service and Support Portal?

You’ll need to first login to the Portal using your login and password. Then

Select the ‘Residential Care’ tile from the home page, the Care Recipients tab will open up automatically. You can see it’s the Care Recipient sub tab by looking under the residential care heading

Sort or filter care recipients by selecting the advanced search button and a pop up will appear that allows to you choose from one of the options displayed.

If you select ‘classification’ you will see a list of residents by each AN-ACC class.

A reconsideration can be requested if you believe the assessment outcome does not accurately reflect the resident’s care needs.

The criteria for a reconsideration request are:

• the assessor did not compete the assessment in a satisfactory manner,
• that the resident’s condition during the assessment did not accurately reflect their usual condition or
• that think relevant information was not considered resulting in a potentially inaccurate classification.

You must request a reconsideration within 28 days of AN-ACC classification being displayed in the My Aged Care Service and Support portal.

The reconsideration option will not be available in the portal after the 28 days have passed.

To make a reconsideration request, you need to:

• Click on the Residential Care tile from the landing page or  the top navigation menu. From within the ‘Care recipients’ page, navigate to the client’s record and select either their first or last name to open their record.
• Within the client record, select the Residential Care sub-tab appearing at the top underneath the residential care heading
• Then Click the “Request Reconsideration” button
• A new section will appear where you will need to select the reason for your request from the criteria available and click the Request Reconsideration button.

A reclassification can be requested if a resident’s needs change significantly.

The specific criteria for a reclassification request are:

• there have been changes in the resident’s cognitive ability, compounding factors, functions, mobility, or pressure sore risk
• there has been a hospital event or events where the resident was an in-patient for at least 5 days, or at least 2 days and was administered general anaesthetic while an in-patient; or
• a significant time period has passed since the resident’s existing AN-ACC class was assigned.

To decide whether it is appropriate to request a reclassification, you should consider if there has been a ‘significant’ change in the resident’s care needs based on the reclassification request criteria that you can see on this slide.

A simpler way to consider a resident for reclassification, is thinking about the following questions – has the resident’s needs changed? Are staff doing more for them? Has their care plan changed to increase the level of care required?

The resident only needs to meet one of the criteria shown on this slide to be eligible for a reclassification. For example, they do not need to meet the hospitalisation or time criteria if they have had a significant change in mobility.

You can only request a reclassification for a resident that has an active AN-ACC classification. You are not be able to request a reclassification for a resident that is not in care or has a default classification.

To make a reclassification request, you must first login to the My Aged Care Service and Support Portal using your login and password and select the ‘Residential Care’ tile from the home page or the top navigation menu.

• From within the Residential Care page, ensure you are on the Care recipients sub tab and scroll down to select the resident.
• When you are on the resident’s page, click on ‘Request Reassessment’ button
• A new section will appear where you will need to select the reason for your request from the criteria available, and then click the Request Reassessment button.

For respite residents it is the same process as described however because of the short-term nature of respite care, you must also include the resident’s expected departure date when making a reclassification request. This will assist us in the scheduling of an AN-ACC assessment by the appropriate assessment workforce.

If you have incorrectly requested a reconsideration or reclassification for a client, or you have become aware that the client is no longer available for reassessment (e.g., they are on social pr emergency leave) you will need to recall your request.

To do this, once you have logged into the My Aged Care Service and Support Portal

• Select the ‘Residential Care’ tile from the landing page or the top navigation menu
• Then Click on the ‘Request’ sub tab located under the residential care heading
• navigate to the client record with the request you wish to recall and open the record
• Click on Recall Reassessment Request button
• Select the reason for the cancellation, and finally, click on Recall Reassessment Request

The reassessment request will now be recalled. Note that the visual of the screen displayed in this slide is the list view of the portal and therefore may differ slightly if you have selected card view displayed.

The next two slides aim to answer a few questions you may have.

Question 1 - Why can’t I request a reclassification or reconsideration?

The ability to request a reclassification or a reconsideration is based on access permissions. Only registered staff of the provider organisation who have the ‘Team Lead’ role will be able to request a reclassification or reconsideration. Organisations or Outlet administrators are responsible for providing portal access and user roles to staff within their organisation.

Question 2 - I have Team Lead access but I still can’t request a reclassification, why not?

A request can only be generated where a resident has an ‘active’ classification and there is no request in progress. You should navigate to the Requests tab from within the Residential Care tile and from there you will be able to see if the client already has a request in progress – either for a reclassification, or they are waiting for an initial assessment and therefore only have a ‘default’ classification.

Question 3 - Can I recall a request that I have made?

Yes. You will need to navigate to the Requests tab and select the resident. From there you can select ‘Recall reassessment request’. If you have cancelled the request because the resident was unavailable for an assessment, and then the resident becomes available e.g. following a return from hospital, you need to navigate to the Request tab and select the ‘Notify client is now available for assessment’ button.

Question 4 - Can I download the results from the Care Recipients tab?

The My Aged Care Service and Support Portal does not currently have the functionality for users to download their assessment data into a report. This is due to privacy and security risks and to ensure that client data is protected. Future improvements are being considered as part of the Department’s digital transformation agenda that will assist in making the linkages between Government and providers much easier.

Question 5 - What are the statuses that clients may have on the portal?

• A client can have an Active classification when means that the assessment has been completed and the client has an AN-ACC classification
• Pending classification which means that the client is awaiting the outcome of an AN-ACC assessment
• A Default classification means the client is waiting for the AN-ACC assessment
• And No classification – which only applicable during the shadow assessment period when ends 30 September 2022

Question 6 - Why can’t I see a resident in the Care Recipient view?

The display of information in the Service and Support Portal is dependent on entry information having been submitted to Services Australia. Please Check that your entry information has been correctly submitted to Services Australia.

You can find out more information how to use the My Aged Care Service and Support Portal in the User Guide, which is available from the Department of Health and Aged Care website. Simply search for ‘Provider Portal User Guide’

If you need any more information, there are lots of ways to get help

• You can watch past webinars
• You can Subscribe to the newsletter to always be up to date
• You can Engage with fact feeds on the aged care funding reform website
• or you ask questions by emailing us at acfr @ health.gov.au

Thank you