Enquiry management for Practice Incentives Program (PIP) and Workforce Incentive Program (WIP) - Practice Stream 012-10010140

• Business owners of medical practices and their staff, including:
• Practice Managers
• Receptionists
• Medical Practitioners
• Practice Nurses
• Allied Health Workers
• Persons who are nominated on behalf of business owners
• General Public
• Primary health networks - organisations that work directly with GPs to improve access to primary care services to patients

Other customers

• Medicare Engagement Officer (MEO)and AIR Business Development Officers (AIR BDOs)

Enquiries can include:

• general enquiries about the Incentive programs
• who is eligible
• how to apply
• payment enquiries
• what form to complete
• notification of changes to existing registrations
• how to use online services
• adding a user’s RA number to the practice profile

Direct customers to the specific area of the guidelines where appropriate. The Resources page has a link to the guidelines.

When calling the agency, Incentives Programs line, the options available to customers are:

1. Practice Incentives Program

2. Workforce Incentive Program - Practice Stream

9. To hear these selections again

• Staff must only give detailed practice information to practice owner/s or authorised contact persons. Authorised contact persons are nominated by the owner/s to act on the owner’s behalf for PIP and WIP - Practice stream
• Before releasing information to a customer, staff must conduct a security check for both inbound and outbound calls

See the Process page for more details about how to check a practice’s owner or authorised contact persons.

Release of practice information to AIR Business Development Officers (AIR BDOs) and Medicare Engagement Officer (MEO)

• AIR BDOs and MEOs and may seek information from Incentives Programs staff
• Staff must perform a security check before releasing any information to an AIR BDO or MEO:
• the Process page contains information about telephone security checks for AIR BDOs and MEOs
• the Resources page contains information about releasing practice information to AIR BDOs and MEOs

Aged Care Access Incentive (ACAI)

• The ACAI is a payment made to general practitioners (GP)
• Details can only be given to the GP who provided the services
• If the GP is not available to take the call, they can give verbal permission to discuss their services and payments with someone else. Verbal permission is valid for the current call only

The Process page contains information about how to check a GPs details.

• Service Officers must try to finalise an enquiry at the first point of contact
• If the Service Officer cannot resolve the enquiry direct the call to the correct business area or person using a warm transfer
• Use the ‘internal transfer number’ to transfer calls for other areas of the agency
• Provide the actual business line phone number to the customer in case they get disconnected during the transfer and for future enquiries

See Conditions for transferring or referring calls to specialist staff and managers for more information.

• Interpreters help customers who speak a language other than English conduct their business with Services Australia

See Interpreter Services for more details.

• Language services provides a free interpreting and translating services for customers with limited English language proficiency
• The Contacting an on-demand telephone interpreter (Interpreter Connect) service:
• is solely for staff, and
• provides immediate telephone access to an interpreter

See Contacting an on-demand telephone interpreter (Interpreter Connect) for more details.

• A customer can submit feedback to the agency. Feedback includes:
• complaints
• compliments, and
• suggestions
• The agency’s webpage has more information on how customers can submit:
• Complaints, and
• feedback

See Managing complaints and feedback for more details.

Health Service Delivery uses an Operator Support Model that includes Local Peer Support (LPS).

Before contacting LPS, check all available reference material. This includes:

• Operational Blueprint
• Training Manuals
• Guidelines
• Incentives News Updates
• PaNDA for any relevant processing notes
• PIP / WIP - Practice Stream Online - Comments and Associated documents

If the enquiry cannot be resolved immediately, take a message and follow up with the customer at a later time.

Tier 0 technical support - self-sufficiency has more information on contacting LPS and escalating telephone enquiries.

• In PIP and WIP - Practice stream the practice is our customer not the individual general practitioner (GP). A GP can only update their own RA number verbally if they are also an:
• owner, or
• authorised contact person
• Tell GPs calling to request an RA number update that only an authorised contact person or owner can do this over the phone. Practices must submit a completed Practice Incentives individual general practitioner, nurse practitioner or health professional details form (IP003) form to link an RA number to the practice profile
• A GP can provide verbal authorisation for an authorised contact or owner to update the GPs RA number over the phone. The Process page contains information about how to update an RA number from a verbal request

• The Department of Health and Aged Care complete audit and compliance activities
• A customer should contact the relevant area to discuss any audit or compliance enquiries. A customer can find the relevant contact details on the correspondence they get.
• Customers may still call and enquire about these matters
• The Process page has more information about handling audit and compliance enquiries.

• The PIP and WIP - Practice Stream has a review of decision process. This is separate to reviews relating to audit and compliance processes
• Decisions are based on the published guidelines at the date of the event
• An owner or authorised contact person must submit a completed Practice Incentives Review of Decision (IP027) form within 28 days of receiving the decision they want reviewed

The Resources page has a list of review of decision FAQs.

• The INU is:
• a quarterly newsletter for practices. It provides information and updates on the Incentive Programs and other relevant programs
• available through PIP and WIP - Practice Stream pages on the agency’s website. The Resources page has a link
• Practices registered to get communications online through Health Professional Online Services get the INU through their ‘My Organisation’ mailbox
• From February 2022, the INU is only available online. The last quarter the INU practices got the INU by mail with the PIP payment advice was November 2021