Practice accreditation for Practice Incentives Program (PIP) and Workforce Incentive Program (WIP) – Practice Stream 012-10010010

FAQs about accreditation

Table 1

Item	FAQ
1	Do accreditation eligibility requirements change if a practice applies for the WIP – Practice Stream and opts to become PIP consenting? If a practice participating in WIP - Practice Stream elects to become PIP consenting, they must obtain accreditation as a general practice within 12 months of the date they joined the PIP, not the WIP - Practice Stream, unless the WIP - Practice Stream approval date is earlier.
2	What if a practice re-applies for the PIP and/or WIP - Practice Stream after closure/withdrawal? If a practice reapplies after it has closed or been withdrawn from PIP and/or WIP – Practice Stream, the practice must already be accredited to be eligible. This is because the practice has already participated in the program previously. The practice cannot revert to a ‘registered for accreditation’ status.
3	Can a practice applying for the PIP and/or WIP - Practice Stream already have accreditation? A practice may already be accredited when applying for PIP and/or WIP - Practice Stream.
4	Is an approved practice eligible for PIP and/or WIP - Practice Stream if their registration for accreditation lapses or is renewed? Registration for accreditation can lapse and/or be renewed only during the 12-month period from the date of joining the program(s). The practice must still achieve accreditation within 12 months of its application approval date.
5	Is a practice still eligible for PIP and/or WIP - Practice Stream if they revert to registered for accreditation status after already being accredited? An approved practice that reverts to registered for accreditation after already being accredited is no longer eligible for payments. If a practice’s accreditation status reverts to registered for accreditation the practice’s payments will be placed on hold until it achieves accreditation. Payments will recommence from the payment quarter when the practice is accredited at the payment-point in time for that payment quarter. Practices will not be eligible for held payments for a payment quarter where they were not accredited at the payment point in time for that quarter. If a practice’s payments are placed on hold, the three quarter rule will apply.
6	Can a change of practice ownership take place if the accreditation of the practice was not included in the sale? If the practice changes ownership within 12-months of joining the program(s) and has a status of registered for accreditation, the change of ownership can occur. The new owners will still need to achieve accreditation within 12-months from the application approval date, not the date the ownership changed. If the practice has a current status of accredited and the new owners have to register for accreditation, a change of ownership cannot take place for the purposes of the PIP and/or WIP - Practice Stream. The practice cannot revert to a status of registered for accreditation and continue to participate in the PIP and/or WIP-– Practice Stream. The new owners will need to apply for the program(s) as a new practice by submitting a Practice Incentives application (IP001) form.
7	Can a practice transfer their accreditation to a new accrediting agency? Practices can choose to transfer their accreditation to a new accrediting agency. The existing cycle of accreditation must be maintained. See National General Practice Accreditation Scheme for more information.
8	Can a practice request a Review of Decision if they have received a letter advising they were not eligible for a payment where there was a gap in accreditation and accreditation was not current on the last day of the month before the next payment quarter? No. If a practice does not agree with the decision, they can apply for an extension of their accreditation through their accrediting agency. There are only limited circumstances in which an application for extension may be granted. Practices must provide supporting evidence to substantiate claims of extenuating circumstances with their applications. The criteria for extension are detailed in Advisory No. GP23/02 on the Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care website.
9	Can a practice request a Review of Decision if they have received a letter advising they were not eligible for a payment because they didn’t achieve accreditation within 12 months of the approval date in the programs? There is a gap between the end date of the 12-month period and the date they achieved accreditation, and they were not accredited at the point in time date(s) for the relevant payment quarter(s). If a practice does not agree with the decision, they can ask us to review it. They need to complete a Practice Incentives Review of decision form (IP027) and submit to us. The form should be addressed to the attention of the Assistant Director, Incentive Programs, with a copy of the letter.

Payment holds and releases

The Program management payments team monitors expired accreditation details.

Payment holds are automatically applied to practices in PIP and/or WIP - Practice Stream with expired accreditation details at the point in time date, and the three quarter rule will apply.

If an accreditation certificate is submitted by a practice whose payments are on hold for expired accreditation:

Service Officers do not need to remove the payment holds or request any subsequent payment releases
Program management payments team check if accreditation details have been updated throughout each quarter
Program management arrange for any holds to be removed and payments to be released if needed

When a practice submits an accreditation certificate with a new practice address and payments are on hold due to practice relocation, Service Officers can remove the payment hold and request the release of any held payment(s).

Identify an employee from a P number

All Incentive Programs staff are allocated a P number login/identifier in this format - PXXXXX

In some cases, the P number is not the same as an employee’s Login ID.

To identify an employee by their P number:

From the Services Australia Intranet home page, select the ICT Security Portal icon
Select Organisation Chart on the Application screen
The Organisation screen will show
Key the operator’s P number in the search box
The employee’s name will show (after a small delay)