Review of the National Screening and Assessment Form (NSAF)

Overview

Background

The National Screening and Assessment Form (NSAF) was implemented in My Aged Care in 2015 to support the collection of information during:

• Screening (conducted over-the-phone by the My Aged Care contact centre)
• Home Support Assessment (conducted face-to-face by the My Aged Care Regional Assessment Service)
• Comprehensive Assessment (conducted face-to-face by Aged Care Assessment Teams)

The need for a Review of the NSAF

In late 2016, the Department of Health (the Department) ran a series of co-design workshops where sector participants listed improvements needed in My Aged Care policy, process and systems. Feedback received during the co-design process indicated that a review of the NSAF was a high priority for the sector.

Participants identified that improvements to the NSAF would:

• Facilitate a more positive and relevant client experience
• Reduce duplication, repetitiveness and time taken to complete assessments with the client(s) and/or their representative(s)
• Improve consistency and useability
• Better provide information to service providers
• Take in to consideration future reforms.

Scope of the Review

The Review will look at:

• The questions included in each level of assessment (Screening, Home Support Assessment and Comprehensive Assessment)
• The business rules and algorithms that support the assessment
• The Supplementary Assessment Tools available to assessors
• The presentation and design of the assessment process within the My Aged Care Assessor Portal and myAssessor app
• The display of assessment information in the My Aged Care Provider Portal and Client Portal (including printed documentation).

The following areas are out-of-scope of the Review:

• The assessment model in general (e.g. workforce and skillset, level and method of assessment)
• The broad domains of the NSAF
• The complexity indicators
• The fields available in the Client Record
• Delegation processes
• Changes to the Health Professionals webform
• Changes to the match and refer process
• Changes to the support plan review process. 

Consultation and engagement activities to support the Review

A range of consultation activities will be undertaken to support the review, including engagement with an Expert User Group who will provide advice to the Department on existing assessment practice and the necessary changes to the NSAF.

A key input to the review will be conducting this survey. This survey is being publically released in order to receive feedback from a range of stakeholders such as consumers, assessors, service providers, peak body representatives and others. Survey responses will be an important  input in creating a better assessment and therefore a better aged care system.

Survey information

This survey seeks feedback from aged care assessors, service providers, clients, carers, health professionals, and peak body representatives on the current NSAF.

This survey has two parts:

1.     General feedback on the NSAF

2.     Detailed feedback on the NSAF

Participation in this survey is voluntary. You may answer as many or as few questions as you wish, according to your interest. You can also complete the survey individually or work with your colleagues to submit a consolidated response. It is advised that you set aside approximately one hour to complete the survey. 

Implementation of findings from the Review

The implementation of findings from the Review is anticipated to occur in 2018.

Further information

If you require any further information, please contact the Access Policy Section at NSAF.Review@health.gov.au