Data has a key role to play in the disability sector, but its value for service providers is often overlooked. Access to the right data can help you drive higher quality standards while growing your business.

Keep reading as we break down the different types of data NDIS (aAtional Disability Insurance Scheme) providers should be reviewing in real time. We'll explain how to track and analyse this, along with what you can do with your data-driven insights.

Clients’ Funds Usage

Clients’ fund usage data is essential for NDIS providers. Viewing it in real-time allows you to better develop and adapt plans for client services.

Ideally, you’ll track:

• Funds usage to date

• Funds allocated to future services

• Current spending rate

You can use this data to create funding usage projections and spot potential future issues. You can then raise these issues with participants ahead of time and find solutions that won’t disrupt their services or your cash flow.

The best funds usage tracker will have National Disability Insurance Scheme integrations, especially the most recent NDIS price guide as set by the Australian government. Manually setting price limits for specific services can be time-consuming. If your system has NDIS pricing built in, you’ll benefit from more accurate data and less admin work.

Client Well-Being and Progress

Quality service delivery relies on NDIS providers and their support workers having access to critical information about participants’ well-being, needs and progress. 

Your NDIS support workers can turn to service agreements and the NDIS plan ahead of visiting a participant. However, these documents are often reviewed annually. Service agreements cannot replace up-to-date information from a participant’s previous session.

Providers and participants alike benefit when support workers have real-time access to data and reports including:

• Progress notes

• Incident reports

• Client goals and past progress

The key to effectively tracking data on client progress and well-being is ensuring that it’s easy to share and access this data. Ideally, your support workers will be able to do this on their mobile device, or even better, via a secure mobile application.

Compliance Data

Whether it’s a worker’s visa documentation or a working with children check, NDIS providers can’t run the risk of accidentally scheduling support workers with expired documentation. That’s why compliance data and, more specifically, up-to-date compliance data is essential.

Ideally, your system for monitoring staff documentation will include:

• Different categories for different documentation

• Expiry dates and notifications 

• At-a-glance insights into who has specific documentation

• The ability to filter team members with specific documentation for easier client-worker matching

With access to this data, you’ll be able to rest assured that you’re always assigning appropriate team members for service delivery. You can also set up document expiry notifications so that you can avoid disruptions to service delivery. And, by integrating this data with your rostering system, you can simplify your scheduling process.

Your Business Activity

Activity data is fundamental for better business planning. At a minimum, you’ll want to monitor:

• Booked, pending and cancelled services

• Staff hours, mileage and expenses (overall and for specific services)

With this data, providers can better plan ahead. This information gives insight into how much demand there is for services, which can be used to make informed hiring, marketing and rostering decisions. With real-time updates on this data, you can be more reactive when rostering and accepting requests for new services.

Don’t make the mistake of deleting cancelled sessions from your data sets. This information gives you a more accurate idea of the percentage of your pending services that are likely to go ahead. 

Ideally, you’ll also be able to filter your data by different service types and even specific participants. This will enable you to better spot patterns and address them. For example, if you notice that a particular client has a high cancellation rate, you can contact them to see if there would be a better day or time for their scheduled sessions.

Profit Margins, Expenses and Cash Flow

NDIS providers with real-time financial data will find they’re better positioned to make business decisions. Make sure you're tracking:

• Per-shift and per-client expenses

• General business expenses (software, banking, etc.)

• Hours logged

• Billed invoices

• Payments and income

Having this data will give you a deeper understanding of your business' financial health that you can use to spot areas for improvement.

Plus, integrating it in one system will streamline the NDIS claims process so you receive payments for services more quickly. With auto-generated invoices, you won’t forget to claim for a petrol receipt or struggle to find the right line on your timesheets.

The Data You Need at Your Fingertips

For NDIS providers, there are never enough hours in the day. With client onboarding, audit preparation, staff recruitment and training, marketing and accounting to work on, it can be hard to squeeze time in to analyse your business data.

But ironically, access to quality data can save you time. It allows you to manage your workforce, client services and finances more quickly and effectively. In doing so, it enables you to focus on running your business instead of chasing paperwork.

ShiftCare’s NDIS software helps you take care of essential administrative tasks, such as rostering and NDIS bulk claims, with a few clicks of a button. It also generates a wealth of real-time data for you in easy-to-understand reports. 

Client funds management and goals progress tracking supports you in ensuring that services are meeting clients’ needs while staying in budget. Compliance reports and automated document expiry notifications mean you’ll never have to worry about accidentally assigning support workers without the right documentation. And with auto-generated activity and financial reports, you can see where your money is going, what your profit margins are and what your future cash flow should be.

Discover how the right insights can empower your business to thrive. Try ShiftCare for free.