Upcoming changes to My Aged Care provider reporting start soon

Upcoming changes to the My Aged Care reporting template for residential and in-home and community aged-care providers’ weekly reporting on resident and workforce COVID-19 vaccination status are set to start from May 2022.

For residential aged care providers, the changes are said to better support providers to report accurately on their resident vaccination data and will include:

• a clear distinction for residents who have received a single dose only, two doses only (primary course) or a booster dose;
• a new data field on the number of unvaccinated residents;
• a new data field on the number of residents who are medically unsuitable or decline vaccination for additional doses;
• a new data field on residents’ COVID-19 winter doses.
   

The Department of Health is encouraging residential aged care providers to start preparing now by putting in place record-keeping processes to commence reporting from 3 May 2022 on the new data sets:

• number of unvaccinated residents;
• number of residents who are medically unsuitable or decline vaccination for additional doses;
• number of residents who have received a COVID-19 winter dose.

Changes to reporting on residential and in-home and community aged-care workforce COVID-19 vaccinations

For all aged-care providers, the new template is said to provide a clear distinction for reporting the number of workers who have received a single dose only, two doses only (primary course) or a booster dose.

The changes will support more accurate reporting by only enabling workforce data to be entered against one data set.

Providers will not be required to report on workforce COVID-19 winter dose vaccines, which are voluntary and available only to those workers who meet the criteria for a winter dose as defined by the Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation (ATAGI):

• residents of aged care and disability care accommodation;
• people aged 65 years and older;
• people aged 16 years and older who are severely immunocompromised;
• Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people aged 50 years and older.
   

ATAGI does not consider there to be sufficient evidence of benefits to recommend an additional COVID-19 winter dose for aged-care workers (unless they meet the above criteria as a vulnerable individual), said the Department in a statement.

Evidence suggests that the widespread use of appropriate personal protective equipment in the workplace means that healthcare workers are more frequently exposed to COVID-19 in the community, rather than in the workplace.

The Department of Health will be releasing resources in the coming weeks to assist all aged-care providers to transition to the new reporting data sets, including a step-by-step user guide and fact sheets.

A ‘save the date’ invitation will be issued shortly for a webinar in late April that will step through the new reporting template.

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