Register a customer for Medicare in the Consumer Directory Maintenance System (CDMS) 011-40060010

When a customer contacts the agency by phone about their application, suitably skilled Service Officers must:

• attempt first contact resolution, and
• complete the enrolment regardless of the date of lodgement if all documents have been provided

Service Officers not skilled in this work type should follow the Escalation process for Medicare Eligibility.

Note: all financial hardship and vulnerable customer claims, must be processed at first point of contact. Service Officers not skilled in this work type, must escalate to Local Peer Support (LPS) for help.

Service Officers must complete a mandatory detailed search before:

• registering a customer
• amending a customer

See Table 1 on the Process page for how to complete a mandatory detailed search.

Note: an Individual Healthcare Identifier (IHI) or Australian Immunisation Register Supplementary Identification Number (AIR SIN) record may have been allocated to a consumer before enrolment in Medicare. For example, an individual may have been created by:

• the 'Request an Individual Healthcare Identifier (MS003) form', or
• the IHI Service in myGov, or
• AIR SIN record - manually created by AIR Service Officers

In these cases, a customer record will already exist in CDMS. Services Officers must make sure the existing consumer record is used and linked to the Medicare enrolment. Do not create a new record.

If more than one record is found, see Duplicate Medicare enrolment and Consumer IDs in Medicare.

Service Officers must complete a mandatory detailed CDMS and Immi search in the MEE Portal when processing a digital Medicare enrolment (DME) application. The MEE Portal searches all programs and all genders.

The MEE portal shows:

• CDMS search results
• immigration search results, and
• possible matches

Note: the MEE Portal shows the applicant's details, results, and matches. However, Service Officers must still process the enrolment in CDMS. See Digital Medicare enrolments (DME) and the MEE Portal.

Individuals with different entitlement end dates cannot be enrolled on the same Medicare card.

Identification documents must be verified in the Medicare Document Verification Service (DVS) portal before processing an application.

If an application is received and processed in a service centre, DVS is only required if the Service Officer is not satisfied with the validity of the documents.

Note: if a Servicer Officer is processing a DME application, DVS is performed in the MEE Portal.

See Identity verification for Medicare enrolments and re-enrolments in the Medicare Document Verification Service (DVS) Portal for more details.

My Health Record preferences are processed in the Medicare entitlement screens in CDMS.

Customers can answer My Health Record questions for themselves and children under 14 years of age.

Forms can be used to enrol additional persons 14 years of age and over. These additional persons must complete and sign their own My Health Record questions on the form.