General Practitioner Aged Care Access Incentive (GP ACAI) for Practice Incentives Program (PIP) 012-10150000

On the Intranet home page:

• Select Customer Service
• Select Medicare Portal
• Select (GABC) SA Specialist Team from the Source Office dropdown
• Select Provider Directory System (PDS) from the eBusiness Gateway dropdown
• Select Submit

The Provider Directory System Home screen displays.

The form must be returned to the provider’s preferred mailing address in PDS. To find this, check PDS to confirm the provider’s name and provider number is correct:

• Select Provider
• Select View
• Key Provider Stem (first 6 digits) in the Search ID field
• Select Provider stem from the ID Type dropdown
• Select Search
• The Provider details screen will show
• Record the provider’s preferred mailing address listed on the screen

• Return the form to the GP using the GP ACAI more information needed (Z2072) letter
• Address the letter to the GP and send to the GP’s preferred mailing address
• If the GP name is missing use ‘Medical Practitioner’
• If the preferred mailing address can not be determined, send to the address on the form
• Select the macro options for the incentive has ended
• Upload the letter to the PaNDA work item. See Processing and National Demand Allocation (PaNDA)
• Finalise the work item as Complete, Request rejected in PaNDA
• Print and send the letter only. Do not return the banking details form

See also, Letters for Practice Incentives Program (PIP) and Workforce Incentive Program (WIP) - Practice Stream.

Ask the caller for their Medicare provider number and full name.

To find the practitioner details:

• Log onto the Provider Directory System (PDS)
• Select Provider
• Select View
• Key Provider Stem (first 6 digits) in the Search ID field
• Select Provider Stem from the ID Type dropdown
• Select Search

Did the search return the correct provider details?

• Yes, a security check must be performed, go to Step 2
• No, request additional information to locate the provider number
• If still unable to locate the provided, tell the caller no information can be provided. Procedure ends here

PIP GP ACAI payments are made to practitioners. Only provide details directly to the practitioner related to the payment.

See Perform telephone security check for Medicare health professionals for more details.

Note: staff can ask other questions to confirm the caller identity. Questions must relate to provider information available in PDS

Did the practitioner pass the security check?

• Yes, continue with the enquiry. Go to Step 3
• If the provider is passing the enquiry to another person, ensure verbal permission to speak to a third party is clearly stated. Go to Step 3
• No, tell the caller they did not meet the requirements of the security check, no information can be provided.

All payments made to the GP will be listed on the GP ACAI payments screen in PIP Online. The payment advice will indicate the bank account the payment was directed to.

Log on to PIP Online

• Select the Provider tab
• Select Aged Care Access Incentive Payments from the Main menu
• Key the Provider stem (first 6 digits) in the Provider Number field
• Select Get Details
• The GP ACAI payment history displays

Was an ACAI SIP paid to this provider?

• Yes,
• Select View PDF next to the appropriate payment
• Tell the provider a payment has been made. Provide the payment and bank account details on the payment advice
• If it was a practice account, the practitioner will need to discuss this with the practice
• No, go to Step 4

The GP must be registered as an owner or authorised contact to be given practice details.

To be included in the GP ACAI payment calculation, the GP must have a current provider on the practice PIP profile, at the payment point in time date for eligible services.

GPs not registered on the practice profile by 31 July 2024 were not eligible for payments regardless of their start date at the practice.

If the GP believes they were registered and met the QSL for a previous, check the practice profile.

In PIP Online:

• Select the Practice tab
• Key the Provider number (including the location identifiers) in the Provider number field
• Select Search. A list of PIP practices where the GP was registered will show
• Ask the GP which practice they were working at
• Select the Practice ID hyperlink
• Select Practice details and Associated GPs from the main menu
• Check both the current and non-current GPs

Is the GP listed?

• Yes, check the GP start date. It must be before the payment point in time date:
• If the GP is on the non-current list, the end date must be after the point in time date
• If the start date is before the payment point in time date, select the view or edit hyperlink to find the date the GP was added
• If the GP was added before the point in time date go to Step 7
• No, the GP was not eligible for a GP ACAI payment. Procedure ends here

The ACAI SIP spreadsheets identify practitioners who have had a payment calculated and the status of their payments.

• Open the relevant ACAI SIP calculation spreadsheet:
  Incentives Workflow > Calculation and Payments
• Select the Payment Details tab
• Select View tab > Freeze Panes > Freeze Top Row. This will keep the top row visible while scrolling through the rest of the worksheet
• Select Column A - PROV_NUM
• Press and hold [CTRL] + [F] and search for the provider stem

Is the practitioner listed on the spreadsheet?

• Yes, check the payment code in the PYMT_STATUS column
• See Payment codes on the Resources page for information on payment status descriptions and actions needed
• If the payment code is X or N, go to Step 6
• No, go to Step 7

Program Management provide a monthly spreadsheet showing all GP ACAI manual payments that have been made.

To see if a manual payment has been made to the practitioner, open the SIP ACAI and SIP Manual Payment Reporting for IPD spreadsheet from:
\Incentives Workflow > Calculations and Payments > GP_ACAI > Manual Payments

Is the practitioner listed on the spreadsheet?

• Yes, tell the practitioner the payment has been made to their registered bank account. Procedure ends here
• No, go to Step 7

Program Management provided a list of failed EFT payments each quarter, up to and including the February 2025 payment run.

These payments are listed on the 'Summary of Failed EFT Payments' spreadsheet:
Incentives Workflow > Calculation and Payments

Select the ACAI SIP tab and search for the relevant practitioner details using the provider number.

Is the practitioner listed on the spreadsheet?

• Yes,
• Check that the bank details are correct
• If the bank details are correct, tell the practitioner that the payment has been released
• No, and the practitioner does not agree with the outcome, or the practice payments were on hold, go to Step 8

Tell the practitioner to submit a review of decision in writing to Incentive Programs.

The practitioner must state their case and include their:

• name
• full provider stem (first 6 digits)
• financial year and tier level the payment relates to
• signature
• any relevant supporting documents. Patient data must not be submitted as part of a ROD request

This review will be uploaded into PaNDA and managed by Program Management.

Do not give the practitioner a timeframe for an outcome.

Do not advise the practitioner to lodge an ROD if they:

• did not update their banking details by 30 April 2025, unless there is a valid reason why the follow up correspondence was not received and/or actioned
• had not been added to the practice profile for the relevant quarters or by 31 July 2024
• had not met the qualifying services level (QSL) for the quarter/s in question

• Log into PIP Online
• Select the Provider tab
• Select Aged Care Access Incentive Payments from the Main menu
• Key the Provider stem (first 6 digits) in the Provider Number field
• Select Get Details

The GP ACAI payment history displays.

Has the GP requested the duplicate payment advice?

Requests for a duplicate payment advice must come from the GP. Written requests should include the GP’s full name, provider number and signature, and postal address.

Do not accept requests from a practice authorised contact person or practice owner who is not the GP.

See also Forms for PIP and WIP Practice Stream.

• Yes, and there is sufficient information to identify the GP, go to Step 3
• No, and the request is:
• Verbal, advise the caller the request must come from the GP
• Written, return the request to the GPs preferred mailing address. Go to Step 7

Note: duplicate payment advices are only available for 7 years. If the request is for payment advices older than 7 years, go to Step 8.

Confirm a payment was made by checking the payment quarter and payment release date on the ACAI payment history table. See Table 2, Step 3.

Is the payment listed?

• Yes, go to Step 6
• No, check if the payment advices has been returned to sender. Go to Step 4

Check for returned mail

Check for returned to sender (RTS) mail for the provider:

• Open PaNDA
• Select the PaNDA Search tile
• Select Incentives from the Program drop down and INC_RTS_MAIL work type
• Key the provider number in the Case ID field and select Search

Is there a RTS payment advice for the quarter?

• Yes, redirect to the postal address provided by the GP
• No, check if a manual payment was made to the provider. Go to Step 5

To see if a manual payment has been made to the practitioner, open the SIP ACAI and SIP Manual Payment Reporting for IPD spreadsheet from Incentives Workflow > Calculations and Payments > GP_ACAI > Manual Payments

Is the payment listed on the spreadsheet?

• Yes, go to Step 6
• No, there is no payment advice and the request cannot be actioned. Procedure ends here

Open the request template from Incentives Workflow > GP ACAI Duplicate Statement Request Template

Add all relevant information to the template and save to a secure folder as a PDF.

Note: do not save the PDF to a personal H:Drive or Desktop.

Requests for an ACAI Duplicate Payment Advice are completed by Program Management (Projects). The request template must be uploaded to PaNDA for action:

• Launch PaNDA desktop icon
• Go to Document Upload
• Select Create new work item from the Upload Type dropdown list
• Browse to locate the PDF request
• Date of lodgement is date of submission
• Program: select Incentives from the dropdown list
• Work type is INC_NO_Projects
• Add the provider number to the Practice ID field
• Use Escalation code SIP DUP in the Practice Name field
• Add a processing note if applicable

Upload document

Note: item status must stay ‘Open’. Do not ‘Pend’ requests

Work item will be allocated to Program Management for action. Procedure ends here

See also:

• Processing and National Demand Allocation (PaNDA)
• Work Optimiser for staff

If more information is needed, or the GP is requesting payment advices older than 7 years, request a free text letter to return the correspondence to the GPs preferred mailing address.

• Add a processing note to the PaNDA work item noting the additional information required
• Add the free text letter name to the practice name field
• Re-assign the work item to INC_NO_POLICY

See Letters for PIP and WIP – Practice Stream for help.

See also:

• Processing and National Demand Allocation (PaNDA)
• Work Optimiser for staff