Vito Forte (he/him) MACS Snr CP IP3P GAICD’s Post

two topics not to get the NDIS and professional services grr

Digital healthcare is changing the game. But there’s a flip side. I came across this article by Michael West Media about Mable, dubbed 'the Uber of NDIS', and it’s pretty eye-opening how they handle client safety. Marley, a 34-year-old on the NDIS with a degenerative condition, needed a safe ride to her doctor and she needed her driver to wear a mask because of her weak immune system. Instead what she got was a nightmare of an experience with a service provider she found through the app that shook her up pretty bad, leaving her with panic attacks. This isn't just inconvenient, it’s dangerous and alarming! Obviously, Marley's experience should be a wake-up call for platforms like Mable to take a hard look at their safety measures. How do we find the right balance between digital convenience and ensuring the safety and well-being of clients? I'd love to hear your thoughts, stories, or any advice on dealing with these challenges in healthcare or any other field. For more information: https://lnkd.in/gvAsgAnv

So it’s the "fine the lot of them & call it protection" tactic. Brilliant! Just what the world needs: a #Commission with its hands in everyone’s pockets but absolutely no hands-on approach to, you know, actually protecting anyone. Revenue Generation over Participant Safety: So, #NDIS saying, "Let’s boost safety by... making fines profitable?" The logic here is like saying you’ll stop crime by putting up a toll booth at the prison entrance. No #investment in actual safety protocols, no quality benchmarks, just a giant “pay up” sign. But I guess that’s the new model of government "care"—treat safety like a parking ticket. Provider Quality Not Addressed: Just increase compliance! Because nothing says "higher standards" like a mountain of #redtape that keeps all the genuinely caring, small providers gasping for air. Who benefits? Big providers who already treat participants like account numbers. There’s no indication of new standards for #improving care quality, training for providers, or supportive measures that would actively prevent harm before it occurs. Here’s the punchline: it’s like building a fence around a fire and calling it firefighting. Do they not realize? Quality doesn’t trickle down from bureaucratic boxes ticked—it comes from actual, real-world investment in training and standards. But, sure, a fat fine is a quick fix... for the budget. Raising fines to millions of dollars can be seen as a #revenue strategy rather than a deterrent. If revenue generation is a primary focus, it creates an incentive for the Commission to impose penalties rather than engage in constructive oversight that truly benefits participants.p Risk of Driving Providers Out: Just perfect. Let’s make it so impossible to operate that only mega-corporations can afford to "care" for the vulnerable. Because nothing says #compassionate service like the cold efficiency of monopolistic giants. Imagine losing your local, trusted care provider, only to end up with some profit-first corporation that views participants like quarterly targets. That’s where this road leads. Preventive Measures? Who needs to prevent harm when you can profit off it? #Prevention is costly, messy, requires long-term thinking—& where’s the cashflow in that? It’s almost like we’re watching them set up an industry of punishment instead of protection, a cycle where failing to provide safety becomes a revenue stream. #Conflict of Interest, Anyone? The Commission’s mandate is meant to be protecting participants, but now it’s shaping up to be a collection agency in disguise. How do you advocate for safety while cashing in on failures? Simple: you don’t. By design, it seems more interested in collecting fines than fostering care. So, if they’re positioning themselves as the saviors of participant #safety , but their primary tool is the threat of crushing fines—who’s really being saved here? https://lnkd.in/gXc34uzg

The wait is over. Today, HHS published its final rule for Affordable Care Act Section 1557, the ACA's civil rights section. The final rule is effective 60 days after publication in the Federal Register. The 558 page final rule has many significant changes, such as: affirms that protections against sex discrimination include protections against discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity consistent with Bostock v. Clayton County (US, 2022); applies nondiscrimination standards to all of HHS’s health programs and activities; for the first time, includes Medicare Part B reimbursement as federal financial assistance; requires recipients of Federal financial assistance, HHS-administered health programs and activities, and State and Federally-Facilitated Exchanges to let people know that language assistance services and auxiliary aids are available if needed; mandates an ongoing responsibility by providers to identify their use of patient care decision support tools that directly measure race, color, national origin, sex, age, or disability to make reasonable efforts to mitigate the risk of discrimination from their use of these tools; requires recipients of Federal financial assistance, HHS-administered health programs and activities, and State and Federally-Facilitated Exchanges to implement policies and procedures and training to ensure compliance; applies 1557 to telehealth services; adopts the longstanding interpretation of civil rights laws that Federal financial assistance recipients must take reasonable steps to provide meaningful access to each individual with limited English proficiency; and requiures effective communication, facility and online accessibility for people with disabilities. Lots to digest here, many programs and policies to create, change, and implement. I have my reading for the weekend. 1557 FAQs: https://lnkd.in/e__k62tx

A critical question many will ask is whether the $140 million Salesforce bill translates into tangible benefits for the public, particularly NDIS participants. Will this new system lead to faster processing times for services, better case management, and overall improved experiences for individuals with disabilities? Even so, paying a software bill worth over $140 million is hard to justify unless you're truly required to rely on it.meaning it’s something you have to depend on, not something you simply decide to make necessary. #ndis #salesforce

ADvancing States has released a new issue brief, Responding to Challenging Client Contacts: Practices from the Information and Referral/Assistance Field. Developed with support from the State Health Insurance and Assistance Program (SHIP) Technical Assistance Center, this brief includes information on policies, procedures, and other resources and support provided by Information and Referral/Assistance (I&R/A) agencies to assist specialists with challenging call situations. The brief captures responses to survey questions from the 2023 I&R/A National Survey that reflect I&R/A specialists' job responsibilities, demand for services, and agency or organization training on challenging client contacts, as well as information collected from interviews with select survey respondents. It draws on the experiences of I&R/A programs to offer approaches and practices for responding to challenging client contacts and supporting staff. Click here to access the brief. For further findings from the I&R/A National Survey, see Service Delivery in the Aftermath of a Pandemic: Findings from the Information and Referral/Assistance National Survey.

The upshot of this story is that Air Canada lost a court case after its chatbot gave fake information about refunds to a customer, and now they have to honor the fake refund policies. This is the story the peddlers of AI chatbots don’t want their prospective clients to see but the news is everywhere. I’m sure we will see more and more things like this happening. Now, imagine this scenario with a chatbot operated by a government agency providing incorrect advice to a person seeking more information on whether they qualify (they have the right to) for particular social benefits or not. Imagine if a person is told they don’t qualify when they, in fact, do. Using chatbots to provide information on social welfare programs or other related services is often presented as a great improvement. Allegedly, chatbots can simplify the daunting process of wading through mountains of information. Be that as it may, this poses a big risk to all, but especially to vulnerable populations who need accurate information the most. Unlike the refund case or commercial information in general, individuals seeking information about social benefits might not realize they received incorrect advice because they don’t know what they are entitled to, potentially missing out on benefits. https://lnkd.in/dAcaj_iK

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Explore the ins and outs of the disability benefits process in our latest blog post. From assembling robust medical documentation to navigating responses and appeals, assisting clients or seeking personal insight, this resource is invaluable. Click the link to delve into the details. https://bit.ly/46dPAnd