Support at Home claiming: a step-by-step for allied health

Under Support at Home, an allied health practice can do the work, write the note, send the invoice and still wait weeks to be paid, because the money passes through someone else's claim. If you deliver services as an associated provider, you do not claim from the government yourself. The registered provider does, and your invoice is one of the documents their claim depends on. Getting paid quickly means making their job easy.

This step-by-step sets out who does what. The program is still new and its claiming processes are being refined, so confirm the details with Services Australia's Support at Home claiming guidance and the Department of Health, Disability and Ageing.

Who claims, and who invoices

• The registered provider holds the participant's Support at Home services, manages their budget and care plan, and claims from Services Australia for services delivered.
• You, as the associated provider, deliver the service under an agreement with the registered provider and invoice them at the rate you agreed.
• The participant does not pay you directly for services funded from their Support at Home budget. Participant contributions, where they apply, are handled by the registered provider, not by you.

If you are a registered provider yourself, you are on the other side of this: you claim from Services Australia and handle contributions. The rest of this post is written for associated providers.

Before the first visit

1. Have a signed agreement with the registered provider. It should cover the services, rates, cancellations, what you must send with each invoice, and when. The Department's pricing guidance says travel costs must be built into Support at Home unit prices rather than charged separately, so agree how your rate covers the drive.
2. Get the referral in writing. It should name the participant, the service, the number of sessions or hours approved, and any goals from the care plan.
3. Check the service is in the care plan and budget. If it is not approved, the registered provider may not be able to claim it, and you may not be paid.
4. Record the registered provider on the participant's file, with the name of the person who approves your invoices.

After each visit

Write the clinical note on the same day. Then make sure you have recorded, in a form you can hand over if asked:

• The date, start time and length of the service.
• The practitioner who delivered it.
• What was delivered, in words the registered provider can match to the care plan.
• Anything the participant's care partner at the registered provider should know, such as a change in the participant's function or their safety at home.

The registered provider may ask for evidence that a service was delivered as invoiced. Keep your notes and records in a way that lets you answer quickly.

Sending the invoice

Ask the registered provider when they need invoices to meet their own claiming cycle, and send yours on that cycle. A late invoice makes it harder for them to claim, and harder for you to be paid. A clear invoice to a registered provider includes:

• Your business name and ABN, plus the details a tax invoice needs if you are registered for GST.
• The registered provider as the addressee, with their reference or purchase order number if they gave you one.
• The participant's name and the identifier the provider uses for them.
• Each service on its own line, with the date, length, practitioner and rate.
• Any other charges your agreement allows, on separate lines.
• The total, the GST treatment, payment terms and your bank or PayID details.

Why invoices come back

Many of the reasons a registered provider might return an invoice can be checked before it goes. These are the checks worth running every time:

• Is the service in the participant's care plan, and approved for that many sessions or hours?
• Does the rate match the agreement, and is every line one the agreement allows?
• Is the participant still with the same registered provider, or have they moved to another one?
• Are the dates, lengths and practitioner details complete, and do they match the notes?
• Has the same service already appeared on an earlier invoice?

When one does come back, fix it and resend promptly, and note the reason so the same thing does not happen next month. If you work with several registered providers, keep a short list of what each one wants on an invoice, because their requirements may differ.

Where AspireOS fits

AspireOS does not claim from Services Australia, and it does not hold Support at Home budgets. It handles the associated provider's side of the work. The funding card on each patient's file records their Support at Home level, support plan and the registered provider you deliver for (AspireOS calls it the care partner), and invoices go to that provider, flagged if your agreement with them is not confirmed. A monthly billing rhythm produces one invoice per period, split by treating practitioner, and overdue Support at Home invoices are chased with the provider rather than the patient. When payment arrives, Reconcile matches a remittance or bank statement against your invoices and shows what is unpaid or short.

There is more on our Support at Home page, and the pricing side is covered in Support at Home pricing for allied health.

You can start free, add your Support at Home participants and agreements, and send your first monthly invoice to a registered provider from AspireOS.