Emma Thompson, the British actress, and screenwriter said “Being disabled should not mean being disqualified from having access to every aspect of life.” In this spirit, it is only appropriate that, in the year 2013, the Australian government established The National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS), which is run by the National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIA), funding reasonable and necessary supports and services that relate to a person’s disability to help them achieve their goals.
Since you, as Plan Manager, are already a part of NDIS you know all that is to be known about the NDIS program. So, let’s instead look at the issues faced by Plan Managers while processing NDIS invoices submitted to them by Plan-managed participants. We at DataDevice Pty, an Australian company, based in Sydney, have been working closely with Plan Managers – My Plan Manager our client, and with Windgap Foundation Limited (currently in final talks with them). We found that the four major bottlenecks, taking up valuable time and resources are:
Let’s take a look at each.
The first issue of manually entering data, resulting in errors, can be resolved by opting for an automatic data extraction application like Abby Flexicapture. This requires setting up the application and DataDevice, having been a Platinum partner of Abbyy for the last 15 years, can help you achieve that. Also, some vendor invoices need to be “trained” to correctly extract the required data. We offer these services too.
The second, Verification of invoice data, can be sorted by employing resources in the form of Verification Operators who verify the extracted invoice data and correct it wherever necessary before submitting the same to the myplace provider portal. Also, to find which vendor invoices that need training, verification is necessary.
Eventually, if you enter NDIS invoice data manually or use any data extraction application, verification of invoice data is a must to avoid rejection of the invoice thus introducing a delay in payment to the vendor. To make verification accurate and economical, DataDevice offers Verification Operators as a Service (VOaaS). The flow can be depicted graphically,
We closely follow NDIS instructions and those you gave to verify and correct the NDIS invoices. The typical NDIS Invoice Data Extraction and Verification fields are:
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provider’s ABN
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provider’s NDIS business name
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participant NDIS Number
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participant Name
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invoice Number
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invoice Date
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amount Inc GST
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GST Amount
And for each Service provided (Table Line Items)
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support Start Date & Support End Date
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support Code listed in the NDIS Support Catalogue
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support Description
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quantity
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unit Price
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total Invoice Amount
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GST component if applicable
Also, the third, Validation, is also taken care of by Verification Operators. They verify the mandatory fields mentioned below so that you as Plan Manager can take corrective actions:
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has the NDIS plan expired or is active?
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is the price correct and the hourly breakdown provided?
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are there enough funds in the NDIS plan?
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is a correct start and end date provided in the invoice?
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was the service provided under a single plan?
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are any mandatory details missing?
And finally, the fourth, Record keeping is very essential to prove that your claims for the support delivered to NDIS participants are correct. The following records need to be maintained:
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invoices
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service agreements
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other documents that can validate the claim for the support provided
Providing this documentation allows NDIS to verify the quantity, type, and duration of the support delivered if you are selected for a compliance review.
DataDevice can help you by providing a repository for all the records, on your server, with an easy Search and Retrieve facility.
Further, as you are aware that the NDIS has stringent rules and regulations in place around invoices. And, Plan Managers are responsible for ensuring that claims for payment are complete, truthful, and accurate.
Towards this end, our Verification Operators diligently review each claim for compliance and apply corrections wherever necessary, before they are submitted to the myplace provider portal. This means that the vendor payment period is optimised with less likelihood of any claim being rejected.
Using our Verification Operators, you:
- ensure prompt Vendor payments
- assure that Participants need not worry about their budgets but focus on their goals
- save on OPEX (Operating Expenditure)
- save Time
- save Money
- outsource Hiring
- outsource Training
- save on HR activities.
To achieve the above, you can outsource all the four above-mentioned tasks to DataDevice. Keeping data security as the highest priority and fully complying with the NDIS Act, Statutory Rules, and NDIS Code of Conduct, here is how our team of Verification Operators is built and managed.
Onboarding Process
We source potential candidates and as part of the interview process put them through a practical test. Next, we get the worker clearances completed as advised by the Plan Manager and get the Police Character Certificate (PCC).
Once the candidate is selected, we provide them with a laptop, install licensed Software & Secure Access, set up DataDevice’s standard tools and set up tools/systems specific to you.
As part of induction, we provide Client Orientation and Client specific training so that he is ready to take up your tasks. After this, the candidate goes live by starting to process the NDIS invoices and related tasks.
Powerful Access Security
Security tech like Cisco Duo is used to limit access to passwords, other important credentials, and file access. We Protect your data with simple yet powerful access security.
Our modern access security is designed to safeguard all users, devices, and applications —so you can remain assured about the security of your application and data.
We lay the foundation for your zero-trust journey with multi-factor authentication, dynamic device trust, adaptive authentication, and secure single sign-on for every user and device. This makes work from anywhere possible with perimeter-less workforce protection and worldwide secure access.
Pod-based efficient Workforce Management
The total workforce is divided into a manageable number of employees called Pod. Every Pod has a dedicated Supervisor who trains, answers queries, motivates, and manages the employees in the Pod. Also, a Manager manages all the Supervisors and talks to the client in real-time.
We also maintain a trained “Bench” Pod. This Pod remains on standby but swings into action as soon as some employee from a regular Pod is sick or has to remain away from work for any reason. The best part is that we do not charge you for this “Bench” Pod! We absorb this cost so that your work continues smoothly without break.
Employee benefits
Every month the Pod meets, in person, to have fun and strengthen the bond between themselves and the Supervisors.
Also, every month one Most Valuable Player (MVP) is nominated from each Pod. To be worthy of becoming an MVP the employee has to achieve error-free targets. The MVP is rewarded with Amazon Gift Vouchers. It is considered a matter of pride to be nominated as an MVP!
We understand that at times the job can be very stressful. Therefore, we arrange monthly Yoga Sessions as part of Stress Management.
To sum up, the below diagram depicts the NDIS invoice processing automation for Plan Managers:
Thus, you have a pool of well-trained and highly motivated Verification Operators to be utilised as a service and do away with all the hassles of recruiting, training, maintaining, and managing resources. We carry the burden of your repetitive tasks while you can devote your valuable time to productive ones.