How the new AN-ACC assessment process works
From 1 October 2022, independent assessors will do assessments to distribute funding based on aged care residents’ needs and the cost of care.
The independent assessors will use the AN-ACC Assessment Tool to assess the resident’s care needs and assign them an AN-ACC classification. The amount of funding provided will reflect the AN-ACC classification assigned to the resident, based on their independently assessed needs.
Healthcare professionals have designed the AN-ACC Assessment Tool to ensure funding for providers appropriately meets with the needs of residents and costs of their care.
The assessment tool considers:
- physical ability (including pain)
- cognitive ability (including ability to communicate, socially interact, problem solve, memory)
- behaviour (including ability to cooperate, physical aggression, problem wandering, passive resistance, verbally disruptive)
- mental health (including depression and anxiety).
Read the AN-ACC Reference Manual and AN-ACC Assessment Tool for more information.
Independent assessor qualifications
Independent assessors are trained, qualified and experienced aged care clinicians. They are independent of the care provider. Separation of assessors and providers will ensure the integrity of the system and that residents’ care needs come before funding decisions.
Assessors must have 5 years’ minimum experience as a registered nurse, physiotherapist or occupational therapist delivering clinical services in aged care settings, such as:
- geriatric evaluation
- rehabilitation
- palliative care
- community nursing, including people living with dementia.
The independent assessors submit assessment information that determines the level of care the aged care resident needs.
The AN-ACC model separates care planning done by providers from funding assessments done by independent assessors. This will mean providers will have more time to focus on understanding the resident’s needs, goals and preferences. This will contribute to better planning and quality care. AN-ACC assessments are not care plans – providers must separately undertake care planning for the resident as required under the Quality Standards.
AN-ACC classifications,13 classes of care funding
The 13 classes of care funding are set out below. Classes are based on the cost for 13 levels of care.
The greatest factors impacting the cost of care include:
- mobility
- cognitive ability for people with assisted mobility needs
- function and pressure sore risk for people who are non-mobile
- wound care, the risk of falling and medical needs such as daily injections.
There is also a palliative care class for people near end-of-life. This class allows frail residents with a life-expectancy of less than 3 months, with an approved palliative care plan, to enter a facility without an AN-ACC assessment. See What is AN-ACC Class 1 (Admit for Palliative Care) for more information.
Each class represents residents:
- with similar needs and the cost of staff time to deliver consistent care
- whose daily care costs are similar
- with similar clinical risks and safety indicators.
Providers can ask for a new assessment for care funding if a resident’s condition has changed significantly. This includes:
- change from independently mobile to being mobile only with assistance
- change from independently mobile to being not mobile
- change from being mobile with assistance to being not mobile
- hospitalisation for more than 5 days
- 2 or more days if they had a general anaesthetic.
- more than 12 months have elapsed since the last AN-ACC assessment (classes 2-8)
- more than 6 months have elapsed since the last AN-ACC assessment (classes 9-12)
It is not mandatory to request a new assessment if care needs have not changed.
See section 4 (Reclassifications) of the AN-ACC funding guide for more information.
For more resources including fact sheets and Frequently Asked Questions visit funding reform resources.