00:04
Hi everybody! Welcome to the Australian Allied Health Manual Better Business Better Care podcast. As I promised you in the last episode that I posted, I wanted to talk to you about some changes that I had noticed had happened within DVA. So Department of Veteran Affairs, they put out a notification on the first of September of some changes. Now, this is not something I was actually notified as a practice manager in my current clinic.
00:32
So it was something that I've come across just because I'm always updating myself on current information. So I just thought I'd share it with you in case you actually aren't aware. So DVA brought in some restrictions on billing of clients, in particular, so physios and exercise physiologist, or say physiosā€™ chiropractors, chiropractors exercise physiologist, in actually billing those clients on the same day. So some of you in multi-disciplinary practices may actually see clients on the same day. They go in and they see their exercise physiologist, and then they go and see their physio.
01:12
So DVA brought in a new restriction on that day, that basically is going to not allow them to be seen for the same condition. So say, you've got somebody who has had a knee replacement, so they're getting their rehab in the physio, but also, then they're getting their exercises from an exercise physiologist. So DVA have actually said, 'From now on, you won't actually be able to bill them on the same day.' So this is something that I was looking a little bit into, because in the current practice that I'm working in, we have quite a few clients that do actually have those services on the same day, some of them actually not for the same condition, and that's fine, you can still go ahead and do those ones. But some of them are actually for the same condition.
02:02
So I just thought, maybe there's something that we can look into here. You know, when you think about your clients, in particular-- Some of them catch DVA transport, some of them have carers or kids bring them to appointments. So sometimes it's not the most accessible thing to come into our practice two or three times a week. So I decided that I I'd give DVA a call and have a bit of a chat to them about what I could potentially do to aid these clients in particular. So I was told when I gave them a call that, 'Yes, this is correct, you can't bill for the same condition on the same day, but you can actually go through and do the health approval.' So most of you would be aware that, you know, there is the email address the [email protected]. So that's the way where that we normally apply for aids, for anything extra that you are not covered for normally, that's where you go to; get that approval.
03:15
So the person that I spoke to a DVA had said, 'Go in and submit' an application, basically to say that, you have these clients that would benefit from continuing their care on the same day.
03:29
So, I actually submitted those. So, I did that, I think I had four clients in particular that I was trying to submit this approval for. And I submitted it in one email. So just a little tidbit, I actually got an email straight back saying, 'You need to actually submit these separately.' So I have gone and I've done that, I'm still awaiting a response from DVA. But this is such an integral point of your client care. And that's probably why I've pursued this a little bit more for these clients in particular. So, one of the gentlemen that I was applying for; he catches DVA transport, now he lives a half an hour away, he has a sick wife. So him coming to our practices already comes twice a week. And on one of those appointments in that week, he sees that the two different modalities. So for him to then have to maybe do that three times a week takes him away from his wife. You know, it's an extra expense of transport. So it's quite integral for us to actually try and get the approval through DVA for him to be able to come and have those services on the same day.
04:52
So, just to reiterate, you can apply through that @health.approval.dva.gov.au, which I'll actually put the link on there for you. And actually just putting, I think I was very generic on my request, and basically saying that we do see this client for the same condition on the same day, but based on his circumstances with life and transport, that this would benefit him in particular but remember, do it as a separate email not together. So separate emails, and not as one whole for every person in your practice. I will put all the links in here for you. But it's just a little tidbit guys that I have come across. And these are the things that I look forward to talking to you all about. And as I come across anything in the industry, a governing body, whatever it may be, I'll just give you these little hints. And please, if there's any questions that you want further answered, or maybe there was something that I didn't cover that you had went, 'Oh, I wonder if you could do this.' Please send me a message. I'm more than happy to help you out and have a conversation with you about it.
06:09
I look forward to the next podcast on what I find and what can I can deliver to you. And I look forward to talking to you again soon.
Thank you!
