July 2017 – Overview of Changes to My Aged Care

Access to Patient Information for Health Professionals (HP)

Making a Referral

When a HP submits a completed referral (webform, fax form or phone) to My Aged Care (MAC), the information will be sent directly to an assessor to contact the patient to organise an assessment.

Adding Information to a Referral

Once a patient referral has been made, you can add additional referral information by calling MAC. If your referral has been accepted by an assessor, the contact centre will give you the details of the assessment organisation so that you can pass the relevant information directly to the assessor.

Following up on a Referral

You can follow-up on your referrals by calling MAC contact centre. You’ll need:

• the confirmation number – if you made the referral online
• your details and the patient’s details – if you made the referral by fax

MAC can provide you with the following information about your patient:

• if a referral has been made to an assessment organisation
• the type of assessment
• the name and contact details of the assessment organisation (after acceptance)
• if the client has existing aged care approvals in place
• if client has been referred for services, including the type of services and if accepted by a provider
• if the original inbound referral has been closed including the reason for closure

My Aged Care Patient Representation

If an older person is unable or unwilling to talk to MAC, a representative may be set up.

What a Representative Can Do

A representative for someone is able to speak and act for the client, including:

• give information to MAC, assessors and service providers
• get information about a client’s progress
• make decisions about assessment and service referrals
• see and update personal information through MAC

• be listed as the primary contact so that they are the first contact point for MAC

Regular and Authorised Representatives

Regular Representative

If the older person is capable of providing consent for someone else to speak and act on for them, they can set up someone else as their regular representative. A regular representative can be the primary contact for the client but will not receive correspondence from MAC for the client.

Authorised Representative

If an older person is not capable of providing consent for someone else to speak on their behalf, they will need an authorised representative. Authorised representatives need to provide MAC with legal documentation to show that they can legally act in this role. An authorised representative will automatically be the primary contact for the client and will receive correspondence from MAC.

Changing Representatives

A client or regular representative can call MAC to cancel any existing regular representative appointments at any time. If the older person no longer requires an authorised representative, the existing authorised representative will need to call MAC to make the change. A new or additional authorised representative can be added by sending in a completed Appointment of a Representative form as well as the correct legal documents.

Establishing a Representative

A representative can be put in place at any time. There are three main ways to set-up a representative:

• By phone with the My Aged Care contact centre
• Using the My Aged Care “Appointment of a Representative” form, or
• During an aged care assessment if the representative is present. The completed form can be attached to the client record and a representative created using the existing process on the Assessor Portal.

Information on Representation for Clients and their Families

• Fact sheet for consumers: How do I get help to talk to My Aged Care
• Fact sheet for carers and others: How to become a representative for someone in My Aged Care

• Quick Reference Guide – Registering representatives and adding relationships

Other Options for Clients to get Help with My Aged Care

MAC allows specific groups to go direct to an aged care assessment without the client talking directly to the contact centre. This includes an older person who:

• has a medical condition that means they can’t talk on the phone
• is Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander who doesn’t feel comfortable talking on the phone
• has poor hearing or are deaf and don’t have the technology to use the National Relay Service
• lives in a remote community and does not have phone access or reception
• doesn’t speak English and their language isn’t available on the Translating and Interpreting Service
• is homeless or at risk of becoming homeless

In this situation, screening information is obtained by an assessor directly from a client at the time of assessment.

Rosanna Commisso
Home Support & Partnership Coordinator
rosannac@yournorthside.org.au