Wait Time for Home Care Packages

Identifying Attributes

Care Settings
Care Transitions
Country
Australia
Publishing Organisation
Registry of Senior Australians (ROSA): Home Care Outcome Monitoring System
Type of Quality Indicator
Process
IOM Quality Dimension
Timeliness
Setting-Specific Domain
Access / Waiting Times

Defining Attributes

Definition

Median wait time from aged care eligibility assessment approval to commencement of first Home Care Package episode.

Numerator

Wait time from Aged Care Assessment Program assessment approval to commencement of first home care provider, median days (IQR)

Denominator

Clients waiting to begin home care services

Exclusions

Only includes incident Aged Care Assessment Program assessment.

Use of Risk Adjustment
No
Risk Adjustments

None

Stratifications

None

Collection and Reporting Attributes

Type of Data Collection
Administrative data
Data Collection Methods

Aged Care Eligibility Assessment Program, National Screening Assessment Form, Home Care Packages data

Frequency of Data Collection
Annually
Frequency of Data Collection in Days
365
Reporting Methods

ROSA Outcome Monitoring System (OMS). Individual home care ROSA OMS reports are available to South Australian providers at the provider, facility or service level.

Reporting Frequency
Annually
Reporting Frequency in Days
365
Indicator Has Recommended Targets
No

Source and Reference Attributes

Evidence Source

Caughey GE, Lang CE, Bray SCE, et al. Quality and safety indicators for home care recipients in Australia: development and cross-sectional analyses. BMJ Open 2022;12(8):e063152

Technical Specifications

Registry of Senior Australians. Home Care Outcome Monitoring System Technical Specification – Wait time Indicator. Version 1.0. South Australian Health and Medical Research Institute. Adelaide, Australia; May 2023, 1 page static1.squarespace.com/static/5b8c84fc4cde7abe6c3e7d7c/t/648927db6de73e5f524e55a0/1686710236315/15IndicatorWaitTime+forHomeCarePackagesV1+dated+28-04-2023_WEBSITE.pdf

Link to Measurement Tools
Domain
Not Assigned
Quality Indicator Confirmed to be Part of a Program Used to Monitor Quality and Safety of Care Among Older People at a Population-Level between 2012-2022
No
Assessed by the Australian Consortium for Aged Care Collaborators as Generally Containing Good Properties (Importance and Scientific Acceptability)
No
Australian Consortium for Aged Care Endorsed
No
Can the Quality Indicator be Readily Implemented at a Population Level in Australia Given its Current Data Landscape?
Implementation of this quality indicator was not assessed.
Identified by PHARMA-Care Project
No
Upload Date
23 July 2025