Practitioners in Practice Incentives Program (PIP) and Workforce Incentive Program (WIP) – Practice Stream 012-10010060

Incentive payments are calculated using both Medicare and Department of Veterans’ Affairs services provided to the practice’s patients. The practitioners must be registered in PIP and/or WIP – Practice Stream at the practice location where the services were provided.

To ensure incentive payments calculate correctly, the practice must tell Services Australia of changes to their practice arrangements:

• within 7 days of the change, or
• at least 7 days before the point in time date. This includes changes to practitioners registered at the practice for PIP and/or WIP – Practice Stream

This includes practitioners:

• starting work at the practice
• ceasing work at the practice
• who have continued at the practice beyond a notified end date

A practice owner or authorised contact person can update practitioner details using:

• HPOS
• the Practice Incentives Individual general practitioner or nurse practitioner details form (IP003)
• the Practice Incentives Change of practice details form (IP005) to cease a practitioner
• the Practice Incentives Change of practice ownership form (IP010) to cease a practitioner

A practitioner can advise they have left a practice:

• using the Incentives Individual general practitioner or nurse practitioner details form (IP003)
• in writing

The Resources page has links to the forms.

Practices can only use these forms after the practice is approved for the program/s.

An owner or authorised contact person with online access to PIP and WIP – Practice Stream can use HPOS to register or cease a practitioner. The updates will be immediate, no form is needed.

The practice can also submit a form to notify the changes.

Adding a practitioner

A practice can register a new practitioner using:

• HPOS
• the Practice Incentives Individual general practitioner or nurse practitioner details form (IP003)

Ceasing a practitioner

A practice can cease a practitioner using:

• HPOS
• the Practice Incentives Individual general practitioner or nurse practitioner details form (IP003)
• the Practice Incentives Change of practice details form (IP005)
• the Practice Incentives Change of practice ownership form (IP010) (as part of a change of ownership notification)
• written notification from an owner or authorised contact person. The correspondence must have the:
• practice ID, practice name and address
• practitioner’s name and provider number, and
• signature of a registered owner or authorised contact person
• HPOS mail centre. A signature is not required for HPOS mail centre notifications. The sender’s position can be confirmed by checking the RA against the practice profile.

A practitioner can advise they have left a practice in writing (including email). The correspondence must:

• have their full name and provider number
• include practice name and address
• have practice ID if available. The practice ID is not mandatory for practitioner notifications
• state they are no longer working at the practice
• include the date they left

A practice is eligible for a procedural GP payment if they meet the eligibility requirements including being in a Rural, Remote And Metropolitan area (RRMA) 3 to 7 location.

A Procedural GP must provide eligible procedural services and need to advise what tier level they are eligible for.

GPs who perform eligible services at more than one PIP practice need to tell Services Australia which practice the payment should go to. They can not claim procedural services at more than one practice at a time. They can change the practice receiving the payment at any time.

To register or change Procedural GP payment details, the agency can accept:

• the Practice Incentives Individual general practitioner or nurse practitioner details form (IP003)
• request in writing from the GP. The correspondence must:
• have their full name and provider number
• include practice name and address
• have practice ID if available. The practice ID is not mandatory for practitioner notifications
• clearly state the changes to their procedural tier including ceasing to provide procedural services
• include the date the change commenced

A practice owner/authorised contact person and the GP both need to sign the form where the request is to:

• register the GP at the practice for a Procedural GP Payment
• change the payment Tier level

A practice owner/authorised contact or the GP signature is required when withdrawing the GP as a procedural GP from the practice.

The IP003 form can be used to:

• register General Practitioner or Nurse Practitioner
• notify an extension to a practitioner, at the main or additional practice location
• register or update procedural GP details including:
• changing tier level
• withdrawing consent to participate
• transferring consent to a new practice
• end date a practitioner at the practice

The IP003 form is also used:

• to provide details of practitioner(s) who join the practice or change locations when a practice relocates, and
• to provide details of practitioners who join the practice or change locations when a practice amalgamates with another practice
• to provide details of practitioners joining the practice due to a change of practice ownership

IP003 Signature requirements

An owner or authorised contact person must sign the practice declaration for all changes except if a:

• procedural GP is using the form to withdraw their consent for procedural GP payments, or
• practitioner is notifying they have left the practice

The practitioner must sign the practitioner declaration if the IP003 is notifying:

• practitioner starting at the practice
• registration for procedural GP payments
• changes to the GP’s procedural registration, including withdrawing consent
• the practitioner is notifying they have left the practice

A practice can use the IP005 form to notify of multiple changes to practice details. Ceasing practitioner may be notified with:

• a relocation
• an amalgamation
• updating practice bank account details
• a change of authorised contact persons
• ceasing a practitioner
• changes to health professional details

The Process page has more information about assessing, processing and updating GP, NP and health professional details.

Signature requirements on the IP005 will depend on the notification type. The declaration page clearly outlines who must sign.

Groups owning or managing multiple practices may use a single form to notify practitioner changes for multiple practice profiles. This is acceptable if the attachment is submitted with a properly completed and signed:

• Practice Incentives Individual general practitioner, nurse practitioner or health professional details (IP003) form, or
• Practice Incentives Change of practice details (IP005) form

The Resources page has links to the forms.

Each additional attachment must include the:

• official company letterhead
• full name and signature of the person who is signing the form
• full name and signature of the practitioner, and
• individual details for each location on the form. There must be the:
• practice ID number
• practice name and address, and
• provider number at the practice

Note: do not reject if the name of the person signing the form or the GP name can be determined from the signature.

Medicare provider numbers are location specific. Practitioners must have a provider number issued for each location where they are providing Medicare and DVA services. Only the provider number issued for the PIP/WIP – Practice Stream practice location can be added to the practice profile.

The PIP and WIP – Practice Stream Online systems do not check the PDS provider address against the PIP/WIP – Practice Stream address for internal users. Staff processing IP003 forms, must ensure the practitioner’s PDS address matches the practice profile address before adding the practitioner to the practice profile.

See the Resources page for information about assessing an address variance. For questions about address variances contact Local Peer Support (LPS).

For external users, the PIP and WIP online systems will cross check the practice location address against the practitioner’s Medicare provider address.

The PIP and WIP – Practice Stream online systems will look to match the following details with the PDS registration:

• street name
• locality
• state
• postcode

If any of the above details do not match, an error message will return, and the practitioner cannot be added. If there is an address variance, the providers can be added using an IP003.