Quality assurance and quality checking for external mail in Medicare 111-23101138

In all instances where a letter has any type of complaint, compliment or suggestion, it must be recorded in the Customer Feedback Tool.

The Resources page has a link to the Customer Feedback Tool.

The following quality assurance steps must be undertaken by all staff when preparing correspondence to:

• members of the public, or
• health care providers

Requirements for letters

Make sure the correct nationally endorsed Standard Letter Template is used. See Using Standard Letter Templates (SLT) for more details.

All correspondence prepared by staff must include:

• Date on the letter
• Recipient's name and address as per relevant database, for example CDMS or Provider Directory System (PDS)
• Our Reference: Letter templates for each program may be designed differently to cater for specific system requirements of each program. For example, add PaNDA work ID where work type is completed in PaNDA. For digital Medicare enrolments, use the Digital Medicare enrolments (DME) application ID. When no other reference details are available, staff’s Source Office Code may be used
• Appropriate documents that are associated with the claim or application, as required. For example, make sure that another customer’s documents have not been attached in error
• Signature of the staff member responsible for preparing the correspondence may be required as directed by business line processes. The Resources page has a link to the Mandatory standards - agency signature blocks
• No personal information unless it is relevant to the transaction. For example, a date of birth should not be showing on an itemised claim statement sent to a customer
• The letter should be attached to the originating PaNDA activity where appropriate

Update CDMS - CDMS users only

The staff member preparing the correspondence must enter a comment in CDMS with a brief description of the reason for the letter.

Comments are entered under the Comments tab of the Personal section for the customer.

Addresses

If a windowless envelope is used and address details are available on outgoing correspondence, make sure the address on the envelope matches that of the correspondence. Before enveloping, refer the letter to the appropriate quality checking delegate.

Some databases are set to produce all capital addresses (including names). This is an accepted style from Australia Post.

The Resources page has links to all the mandatory standards and the writing guide.

Secure print/follow me print

Staff must use secure print/follow me print when printing letters and supporting documentation. This is in accordance with Australian Privacy Principles (APPs) APP6 and APP11.

The Resources page has links to all the Australian Privacy Principles (APPs).

HSDD staff follow peer to peer letter checking for all letters. The Process page has the details.

Do not use the peer to peer process for Lifetime Health Cover (LHC), Statement of Benefit (SOB), Debt letter – Overpayment over $100 or Estimate letters. Upload these letters to PaNDA for quality checking.

The Process page has details about:

• how staff are to upload letters in PaNDA for quality checking, and
• the process for quality checkers

All letters must be quality checked by a quality checker/delegate. That is, before the letter is given to the customer, or when completing a work item in PaNDA. Letters include:

• Lifetime Health Cover (LHC)
• Statement of Benefit (SOB)
• Debt letter – Overpayment over $100, and
• Estimate

Note: do not email letters to Quality, Performance & Technical Support Team for quality checking.