Live Well at Home - home support providers

Key information

Through the portal, providers can:

• Submit visit and actuals data
• Submit one-off claims
• Update contact details for your organisation and staff
• View care package line item (support packages recorded within our system)
• Receive individual service agreements/contracts (ISAs/ISCs) confirming support packages and sign them electronically
• View and download purchase orders as soon as they are issued
• Access remittance reports
• View payments data

Setting up the planned care on your care system

Your care system needs to be kept up to date with the care to be delivered to a person. This is the information that is used to pay you by exporting it to a CSV file.

In the Provider Portal you will see the term Care Package Line Item (CPLI) – this will be the support package we have in our system for a service user. It is important that the agreed times of visits and hours of support is reflected in your care system.

Service requisition form

A service requisition form is used to notify providers of a care package that needs to be sourced. The timetable of care on this form is to be used to set up the number and duration of visits for the person on your care system.

Where a permanent change is needed to a care package once it has started, the Adult Social Care Team will send you a variation form. You can use the information on this form to update your care system.

Temporary changes

Where a temporary change is needed (for example, for two weeks or less, where, for instance, someone needs extra visits due to informal carer being away, day service closed, extra visits needed to administer short-term course of medication) this will be agreed via phone calls/emails. You need to update your care system with these changes. There is a new process from late February 2023 – please see the section on Provider Led Reviews and Temporary Variations.

Columns in the actuals screen

The following fields are displayed - the number of visits is for safeguarding purposes only, and are required to be completed for every actual:

• Actual - shows the Actual quantity delivered, the units and the unit cost
• Service Level - the specific level of service. for example. External Domiciliary Care - Tiered, Home Care External - Spot
• Pl. (Planned) - number of planned service units (according to the contract)
• Frustd. (Frustrated) - number of service units originally planned but missed by the Service User
• Msd. (Missed) - number of service units originally planned but missed by the provider
• Xtr. (Extra) - number of extra service units delivered in addition to those planned
• Vst. (Visits) - total number of visits to the Service User (informational)
• Total Cost - this shows the total cost; either based on the Actual + Frustrated quantity or the Planned Quantity, depending on payment terms
• Comments - Free text field for comments: Compulsory if there has been an over- / under delivery of planned care

How to log in

You can access the portal online using your email address and password. You will only be able to access the portal once an account has been created for you. Once we have set you up on the system, we will email you your username and password. If you require access contact the Social Care Payments and System Data Team carepaymentqueries@oxfordshire.gov.uk.

Enter your email address and password. If this is your first time logging in, your password will have been supplied to you and you will be asked to change your password. Ensure it meets the following criteria:

• 9 characters long
• Includes uppercase and lowercase
• Includes at least one numerical character

Once you have changed your password, you will be required to enter a six-digit security code. Please make sure this is memorable

Whenever you log in from here on, you will be asked to:

• Enter your password
• Enter at random two digits of your six-digit security code

If you forget your password or you have entered your password incorrectly too many times, you can request a new password from the homepage. Complete the form and click Submit.

The Helpdesk staff will email the new password to your email address. There can be a delay in resetting passwords and accounts, therefore please do not send in multiple requests.

You can also change your password and your security code at any point by clicking on the relevant links having logged in:

User guides and help

• Portal user guide - LWAH (pdf format, 2.9Mb)
• Acceptable user policy (pdf format, 392Kb)
• Provider Portal E-Learning (pdf format, 55Kb)
• Blank CSV visits file (csv format, 404Kb)
• Visit Columns – Data Type Home First (csv format, 201Kb)
• Example Visit file (colour-coded) csv format, 21Kb)

Further help

If you can’t find the answer in our guides email carepaymentqueries@oxfordshire.gov.uk.

Using the portal

Requirements

To use the portal you will need:

• a computer with access to the internet
• software to edit CSV files such as Excel
• software to view a PDF file such as Adobe Reader
• a secure (named) email address - such as a provider email address or NHS digital-accredited account if you already have one, or another individual account (shared accounts are not permitted)
• a printer and scanner - for printing out any relevant information such as supplementary remittance advice.

User accounts

You can have a maximum of four accounts per organisation with different types of role-based access, email carepaymentqueries@oxfordshire.gov.uk for a contact form.

Data protection

The information collected is not stored on your computer. You will only see the details of individuals you have been commissioned to provide care for once you have securely logged on to the system using the two-step login process. When logging on to the system you will sign up for user access and acceptable user policy (pdf format, 392Kb) that are designed to protect you and the individuals, we commission care for. 

Safeguarding or reviews

Other, non-financial issues need to be raised via existing processes.

Instant updates

Changes made in the ContrOCC finance system can be seen in real-time on the portal.

Submitting invoices

There isn’t currently any functionality to submit invoices. Invoices should continue to be submitted via existing processes. 

Visits and payment schedules

The schedules show you when payments for services you have provided can be expected and how frequently the payments will be made.

A payment can only be made provided you have submitted your weekly visits data as expected, below table detail deadline for updating the visits data (ensure to upload your visits data before the deadline date).

Payment schedules

If the contract you have with us requires the portal to be updated with visit data you have delivered, ensure this data is uploaded into the portal and only those that are matched to CPLI will get paid.

You should report any issues with payments to carepaymentqueries@oxfordshire.gov.uk.

Payment dates might differ if due around a bank holiday.

Service users charges

Most of our service users make some contribution to the council for their care and these charges will be generated using the visits data submitted by providers. It is therefore important, that this information is accurate and received in a timely manner as specified above.

N.B. This timetable is subject to change by a day or so to account for bank holidays etc.Important information

Visit data files must be uploaded weekly by 5pm every Thursday for the previous week Monday through to Sunday.  The portal will be locked weekly to prevent files from being loaded after the deadline. This is to allow time for the visit data to be checked and any queries dealt with ahead of the payment run

Visit files and troubleshooting

Visit data needs to be uploaded to pay the following:

• Home care (following reablement)
• Generic / long term homecare
• Extra care housing - planned care hours

Visits are not required for:

• Live in care
• Waking nights
• Sleeping nights
• Extra care housing - core charges
• Extra care housing - block payments
• Reablement episodes
• Notice periods

The payments for these will either be generated automatically (there is no need to invoice) or there is a separate process for these. If you have packages of care that you were invoicing for or have been commissioned under a spot contract AND you were invited to use the Provider Portal for these cases, you may submit visits data for these via the Provider Portal.

Visits file saving format

• Save your file as a CSV (Comma delimited)

• Name your file in the following format: Provider Name – Week, for example Ruby Homecare – 02.01.23 - 08.01.23

Planned time and delivered time

The number of hours commissioned should be reflected in the planned columns, and the total weekly hours should match what is recorded on the CPLI. This is crucial.

The delivered times recorded on the visits file should reflect your actual call times.

Recording sleeping nights and waking nights

Night Care should be recorded as a 10-hour long visit (normally 22:00 to 8:00)

Duplicate file uploaded

If the files visits in the files had the same “VisitRef” (visit reference numbers) then it is not a problem as the second file will simply copy over the original data. If a different set of “VisitRef” are used then one will need to be deleted.

File uploaded with errors

If you reload the visits with the same “VisitRef” it will copy over and replace the original data.

Deleting visits

Upload a file with the “VisitRef” of the visits you want to delete in column A (“VisitRef”) and 1 or Yes in Column B.

Unmatched visits

When visits are uploaded into the portal, they are received into our finance system and will match to a CPLI. You can see if a visit has matched or not within the portal. The following are possible reasons a visit may not be matching:

• The package has not yet been set up (i.e., there is no CPLI in place in our finance system). Once the Systems Team add the CPLI, the visits will match – provided all the information you previously submitted is correct. If you incorrectly guessed any of the details, such as the service level, you would need to resubmit the data.
• There is a package (CPLI) but the date of the visit you have uploaded is before the start date or after the end date on the CPLI. Check the care package line items screen to determine which and correct date.
• You have used the wrong zone within the service name column – you need to check the service name applied to the CPLI for that service user. Correct the service name with the right zone and resubmit the data.
• Visits data has been submitted for cases that should not have been submitted – these visits would need to be deleted. E.g., Fully funded health packages (CHC), deceased cases, client has gone private.

Cancelled visits

If the service user gives the required notice, then the cancelled visit will not be paid for nor will the service user charged. If the service user does not give the required noticed, you will be paid for this visit and the service user will be charged for it. Therefore, it is important that you use the correct visit type to indicate the type of cancellation. The service user may also query why they have been charged for a visit and they can be advised that enough notice was not provided if we have this information.

Undeliverable visits

These are visits where your carer attempted the visit but was either turned away or not let in to provide the care. Providers will be paid for “Undeliverable” visits. Service users will be charged for “Undeliverable” visits

Hospital visits

If a service user is admitted into hospital and therefore the visit was not required, you need to use the relevant visit type to indicate this. This prevents the service user from being charged. Please refer to the relevant section of the user guide in order to request the hospital incentive payment.

Comments column

Use this column if the visit did not take place because:

1. it was cancelled
2. it was undeliverable
3. the client was in hospital
4. or if the visit was much longer than the planned time (exceptional visit)

Common errors

1. The visits file is not in a csv format
2. The visit reference in the first column has been duplicated elsewhere in the file
3. The start time and end time of visits are the wrong way round
4. There is an error in the year e.g., 2002 instead of 2020
5. The start date on the visit is before the CPLI start date
6. The end date on the visit is after the CPLI end date
7. The planned times do not equate to the total hours on the CPLI as agreed
8. The SSRef (our service user reference) is not correct or is missing the prefix A at the beginning of the reference
9. Random spaces in a cell
10. Mandatory cells left blank
11. Failure to upload in time
12. Not including all the headings on the file, even the optional ones
13. Wrong service level
14. Wrong service name

Frequently asked questions

Provider-led reviews

As part of the Live Well at Home contract, providers are expected to carry out planned Provider Led Reviews (PLR), but there may be occasions where an unplanned review is needed due to a change in circumstance or needs.

The process below will be available from late February 2023.

Adult Social Care will send you a link to the PLR form no later than the third week from the care starting, in order for you to be able to complete the review within the first six weeks. Once the form has been returned, Adult Social Care may need to follow up on the information you provide with a phone call.

If you have identified a change in need – Adult Social Care will carry out a reassessment and if necessary, update the service user’s support plan. A new care package line item will be added to the system to reflect the new or updated package of care.

For unplanned reviews, you will need to email the Review Team requesting the provider review paperwork is sent. Adult Social Care will then triage the request to decide if a review is needed or if it should be allocated to a social worker to carry out a reassessment.

Though providers are expected to complete these reviews as part of the Live Well at Home contract, you will be paid £25 for every annual or 4-6 review completed. Please note, the payment is not extended to unplanned reviews.

NB: The PLR form (and process) will be available from late February 2023.

Temporary variations

Provider-led review - Planned temporary increases to care

Providers are only able to request planned temporary increases to care packages. A planned increase to care is when the provider knows, ahead of time, that the person will need some additional support. For instance, the informal carer is going into hospital for one night on X date and therefore additional support is required for that person to cover that night.

Providers can request a temporary increase ranging from one visit up to a maximum of two weeks at a time.

You would need to get in touch with Adult Social Care. This form (and process) will be available from late February 2023.

You need to complete the temporary increase form within 24 hours before sending it back to Adult Social Care. Once the form is returned to Adult Social Care, our teams will review your request.

If some or all the additional visits or visit extensions you have requested are over 15 minutes, approval is required internally. You may be contacted by a member of the team to discuss your request. Once the request has been approved internally, the finance team will add the increase as a CPLI (care package) within the system. This will be a second/additional CPLI that is recorded.

If you believe the variation needs to be beyond two weeks, please contact Adult Social Care.

In the meantime, where a temporary change is needed (for example, for two weeks or less, where, for instance, someone needs extra visits due to informal carer being away, day service closed, extra visits needed to administer short term course of medication) this will be agreed via phone calls/emails. You need to update your care system with these changes. The new process described above will be available from late February 2023.

Key contact details

• Payments, Systems & Data Team: carepaymentqueries@oxfordshire.gov.uk
• Quality and Improvement Team: qualityImprovementteam@oxfordshire.gov.uk