Speak Out OCTOBER 2019 V3 DIGITAL EDITION

in practice

Ask SPA?

Run off cover & temporary leave of absence I am taking a break from private practice, what do I do about my professional indemnity insurance? • if you advise at a later date that you did not meet the minimum 6 months requirement you will be removed from TLOA and will be required to pay the premium for this period. Remember that your insurance will not cover you if there are any claims that arise during the period you are on TLOA.

Guild Insurance has advised Speech Pathology Australia there are a few options for members who have a policy with them and these are outlined below. If you have insurance with another provider it is important you discuss your policy options directly with that provider. Temporary Leave of Absence (TLOA) status is designed for a practitioner who is taking extended, temporary leave. The leave should be between 6 and 30 months. Reasons for the leave can include: maternity leave, extended study leave, extended holiday leave or other periods of extended temporary leave (not those intending to permanently cease practice or retire). As the combined liabilities covers are written on a claims made basis, a current policy must be maintained at all times to ensure cover from claims which may arise from past activities whilst they are on extended leave. Placing the covers on status TLOA achieves this. Typically: • No premium is charged for the period you are on TLOA; • if you go on TLOA mid-way through a policy period, the refund of premium will be provided; • if the TLOA period extends into the next renewal period, you will receive a renewal schedule for $0 premium and the policy will automatically renew; Travel under NDIS What can I charge for travel under the new price guide? Under the 2019/20 Price Guide, travel can be charged according to a time based system, using the Modified Monash Model (which has recently been updated) from the Department of Health. With participant agreement, providers are now able to charge for up to 30 minutes of travel to a participant, or between participants who live in metro areas. The last client of the day, or client that is seen before returning to base can also be charged up to 30 minutes for return travel. For MMM4 and MMM5 areas, which are considered ‘regional’, providers can charge up to 60 minutes each way. Travel can be shared amongst participants seen at the one external location (e.g. school, residential facility), or within close proximity if all of the participants agree, but the total cost must not exceed the amount for the round trip e.g. 60 or 120 minutes. Plan managed and agency managed client's plans can only be charged travel up to the guidelines in the price guide. There are no restrictions on travel fees for self managed participants, other than what the participant/family agrees to, and what actually occurs. For instance, if you usually travel an hour, but then visit the client at a different place that is only 20 minutes away, or you manage to combine it with another visit, you would

If you are intending to cease working in private practice you might qualify for “run off” cover. “Run-off cover” is insurance that recognises a practitioner is no longer consulting yet still has the potential liability for advice given throughout the course of their career. The Guild insurance policy provides “run off” insurance automatically, if, during the period of insurance, you retire or leave the profession entirely to pursue other interests. In those circumstances, all you need to do is advise Guild and they will note your policy accordingly and this will be reflected in your insurance schedule. Alternatively, if you are not retiring, but instead are moving from Private Practice in to Public Practice or joining another practice as an employee (after working in your own business), you should contact Guild to purchase “run off” insurance for your private practice liabilities. Your policy will be noted as being in ‘run off’ in the same way as the example above, however, a one-off premium is charged. Guild provide 1, 3, 5 or 7 year options for practitioners in this situation. If you have insurance through a different provider, you should contact them to discuss your options. need to confirm the amount you actually travelled that day rather than an averaged out fee across 6 months. If you are considering ‘averaging’ out the travel fee for the day across several clients, this is really a business decision regarding billing practices, and should be made in collaboration with all clients. For example the client may request the first or last appointment in a day and agree to having the higher level of travel charged to their plan OR all clients seen in a day may agree to share the charge equally as a percentage of the total travel cost for the day. If charges are shared with all clients, you will need to let clients know what you will do if a client cancels for example, fee shared amongst participants might be raised slightly for that day. It is also possible to have an entirely different rate for travel which ensures you are always under the 30 or 60 minute cap as stated in the price guide. Members will need to work out with their participants what works best. Members can read more about the current travel guidelines and examples of how to charge travel in different scenarios on pages 14 and 15 of the NDIS Price Guide.

Erin West NDIS and Practice Advisor Nichola Harris Manager Professional Practice

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October 2019 www.speechpathologyaustralia.org.au

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