DES assurance program identifies accuracy rates of payment claims

The Department of Social Services (DSS) has released a communique that identifies the accuracy rate of Disability Employment Services (DES) provider payment claims made in the first quarter of the new DES contract. The DES assurance program, which is designed to monitor the integrity of DES, examined a random selection of claims lodged by all 117 providers operating under the new contract.

Unsurprisingly, given the number of new providers and the changed contract compliance provisions, the accuracy rates for certain claim types were below the DSS minimum payment accuracy benchmark of 95 per cent. Claims for direct registration fees had the lowest rate of accuracy, at 82.5 per cent. This result reflects the significantly higher number of direct registrants that have been accessing DES since the commencement of the new contract on 1 July. During the period 1 July to 30 September 2018, direct registrations increased as a proportion of the DES caseload from 2 per cent to almost 10 per cent. Providers are advised that there will be a new DES Direct Registration form that will take effect from 4 March.

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