This new package has been designed to reflect the changes needed as a result of the Department of Health publication ‘Fairer Charging Policies for Home Care and other Non-Residential Services’

 Charges for Services

 In order to meet the requirements of Fairer Charging service providers are created with service records that record the purchasing cost. These may be linked to a standard price table. This record is also used to indicate how the service should be treated for charging purposes, allowing for clients to be charged according to an assessed ability to pay or as a fixed cost item.

Care Packages

 Once the services to be supplied to a client have been agreed they are recorded on a Care Package. This form records when a particular package of services begins and details of the suppliers.

 In addition to selecting services from multiple suppliers the care package allows the user to define 

• Maximum client charge (this may differ from the actual purchase price of the service)
• Quantity and frequency of the selected service
• Charging method for the service

 Assessing the Client’s Contribution 

To assess the client contribution the application uses a number of background tables which holds all the rules for calculating the client’s minimum income level. This includes 

• User defined buffer level above basic benefit entitlements
• Maximum charge
• Automatic inclusion of fixed cost items as expenditure
• Variable client maximum charge as a proportion of ‘net disposable income’

A comprehensive form records client financial details, including all items of income and expenditure. A financial statement is ‘enduring’ and when it is used in conjunction with the Residential Charging package, allows a client to be charged for both residential and domiciliary services using the same financial information.

 Once a client has a financial statement the cost of the care package is combined with the finance information to produce a ‘client contribution’. This calculation takes into account 

• Net disposable income calculation (NDI)
• Fixed charge items which are an expense  (e.g. meals)
• Maximum contribution level based either in NDI or maximum charging level

 Client Billing

 The application has been designed to produce regular client accounts based on the established client contribution. Variations to service delivery are recorded through an ‘adjustments’ form. Client accounts can be sent directly through the application or information can be transferred to corporate systems for the production of a bill.

 All transactions which record client charges are held on a ‘client ledger’, which is also used to record payments made by clients.

 Provider Payments

 The package can also be used to generate information about payments due to individual suppliers, with ‘pro-forma’  invoices being produced to outline the charges expected from a supplier. This information can be transferred to corporate systems for payments. The application permits the payment of suppliers automatically, based on the service records held, without the need for suppliers to submit invoices.

 Reporting  

Reporting is supported at a number of levels 

• Standard reports
• Export of data from standard reports to other formats
• SQL based ‘Quick Query’ tools in the application
• External links to other report writing tools using ODBC connectivity