Healthcare identifiers
Healthcare identifiers are unique national numbers assigned to individuals, providers, and organisations delivering health and support services. They help ensure accurate information is matched at the point of care, including in digital health systems like My Health Record, the 1800MEDICARE app, electronic prescribing, Provider Connect Australia and the Australian Immunisation Register.
About healthcare identifiers and the HI Service
Types of healthcare identifiers
The four types of healthcare identifiers assigned and regulated under the Healthcare Identifiers Act 2010 (Cth) are: IHIs, HPI-Is, HPI-Os and HSP-Os.
- Individual Healthcare Identifier (IHI) uniquely identifies a patient (individual) receiving healthcare. This includes Australian citizens, permanent residents and visitors to Australia.
- Healthcare Provider Identifier - Individual (HPI-I) identifies an individual healthcare provider who provides healthcare, such as a general practitioner, allied health professional, specialist, nurse, dentist and pharmacist, among others.
- Healthcare Provider Identifier - Organisation (HPI-O) identifies the healthcare provider organisation that provides healthcare, such as a hospital, medical practice, pathology or imaging laboratory or pharmacy.
- Healthcare Support Service Provider - Organisation (HSP-O) identifies an organisation that provides services and support, including those for older Australians and people with disability, such as in-home care and personal care services.
What is the Healthcare Identifiers Service?
The Healthcare Identifiers Service (HI Service) is Australia's national system that assigns identifiers to uniquely identify individuals, healthcare providers and organisations.
Operated by Services Australia in partnership with the Australian Digital Health Agency, the HI Service ensures that healthcare identifiers are:
- unique and consistent
- securely managed
- used appropriately across the healthcare system.
Find out more about getting started with the HI Service.
For healthcare providers
Healthcare identifiers are essential for safe, efficient, and secure digital health. They ensure that the right information is matched to the right person, healthcare provider, and organisation.
Healthcare identifiers are used in the following digital health tools:
- My Health Record
- electronic prescribing
- secure messaging
- clinical document exchange
Using healthcare identifiers on a national scale is critical to delivering high-quality, connected care for all Australians.
Getting a Healthcare Provider Identifier – Individual (HPI-I)
You need an HPI-I to access My Health Record and other digital health systems and services.
An HPI-I is a unique number that identifies you in the HI Service. You may already have an HPI-I. If not, you can apply for one or your allied health professional body may be able to register on your behalf.
HPI-I for Ahpra registered professionals
All members of healthcare professions regulated by Ahpra receive an HPI-I automatically when they register with Ahpra.
If you don't know your HPI-I, you can get it from the Ahpra website using your login account, or call Ahpra on 1300 419 495 during business hours.
HPI-I for non-Ahpra registered professionals
If your profession is credentialled by a professional body with certain characteristics, you can either register for an HPI-I yourself using Health Professional Online Services (HPOS) or ask your eligible allied health professional body to register on your behalf.
For more information, visit Services Australia's webpage: HI Service for individual health care providers.
Share your HPI-I with your employer or organisation. It's used in digital health transactions to identify you as the provider.
Using Healthcare Provider Identifiers – Organisation (HPI-Os)
HPI-Os are managed by your organisation's responsible officer (RO) or organisation maintenance officer (OMO) via HPOS.
You can use HPI-Os as part of communicating and managing information about a consumer's healthcare or healthcare support services provided to them, and in health administration.
For example, you may need to search for another organisation's HPI-O for referrals or secure messaging. You can search the HI Service's Healthcare Provider Directory through HPOS.
HPI-Os are also used in many automated ways, such as managing information in My Health Record and authenticating a provider's identity in a range of digital health systems.
Finding a patient's Individual Healthcare Identifier (IHI)
IHIs help ensure the right information is associated with the right individual at the point of care.
To use a patient's IHI in digital health information exchanges, your practice software must be connected to the HI Service. The software can then find an IHI based on the patient details in the local record.
If you can't retrieve a patient's IHI via your practice software, check the accuracy of the patient details in your local record (particularly Medicare or DVA number, family name, and date of birth).
If these details are correct in your local record, the patient may need to update their details with Medicare.
If you cannot get a match via your software, individual healthcare providers and authorised employees can call the HI Service operations team to get a patient's IHI. You will need to verify your identity before receiving a patient's IHI over the phone.
Applying for a Healthcare Support Provider – Organisation (HSP-O) identifier
From 1 November 2025, organisations that do not directly provide healthcare services but provide care and support services, including those for older Australians or people with disability can register with the HI Service for an HSP-O. This includes organisations that provide in-home care support and personal care services.
These types of organisations are not currently eligible for an HPI-O because they typically do not employ providers with an HPI-I.
Providers with an HSP-O will not have access to My Health Record.
Services Australia is working with the Department of Health to establish processes for assigning HSP-Os to eligible providers.
For more information visit Service Australia's webpage: Register as an entity.
For practice managers and organisations
In many organisations, the practice manager will register the organisation for the HI Service and manage day-to-day updates.
To be eligible for an HPI-O from the HI Service, your organisation needs to:
- provide healthcare, and
- employ at least one individual healthcare provider who has a Healthcare Provider Identifier-Individual (HPI-I).
Once your organisation is registered in the HI Service, healthcare providers in your organisation can use their HI Service conformant software to:
- view healthcare identifiers for patients, organisations and healthcare providers
- make referrals and send secure messages to organisations or healthcare providers
- view and upload information to My Health Record.
Different roles and organisations are involved in registering for and connecting to the HI Service.
HPI-O registration and management activities and roles
The usual flow showing key activities is shown below (this may vary for some organisations).
Steps for getting started with the HI Service
Please note: If you are connecting to the HI Service to use My Health Record, please review your My Health Record participation obligations first.
Step 1: Define your organisation structure as either a seed or network
Organisations will register as either a seed organisation or a network organisation in the HI Service.
A seed organisation is a business entity that provides or controls the delivery of healthcare services.
A network organisation provides services as part of a seed organisation. This could be, for example, a hospital or a medical practice operating under a larger medical group.
If you're registering a network organisation, you will need to link it to either a seed organisation or another network organisation in the HI Service.
Please contact the Australian Digital Health Agency help desk for support and to discuss considerations before determining the best structure for your organisation.
Phone: 1800 723 471 (option 2), available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
Email: help@digitalhealth.gov.au
Step 2: Register your organisation via Provider Digital Access (PRODA) and HPOS
To register with the HI Service, you'll need a Provider Digital Access (PRODA) account to access Health Professional Online Services (HPOS). If you don't have a PRODA account, you can register online and then set up your HPOS access.
For more information, visit Services Australia's webpage: Register as a health care provider organisation.
Step 3: Assign responsible officer (RO) and organisation maintenance officer (OMO) roles
ROs oversee the organisation's registration and structure.
OMOs manage day-to-day updates, including organisation details, staff access and certificates. For more information, visit Services Australia's webpage: Update your organisation's details in the HI Service.
An RO can also be the OMO. Both roles are essential for maintaining compliance with the HI Service.
For details on the roles of everyone involved in the HI service, visit Services Australia's webpage: Roles in the HI Service.
Step 4: Ensure your software is HI Service-conformant
You need conformant software to:
- access patients' healthcare identifiers
- upload documents to My Health Record.
Your software developer needs to test their software to make sure medical information is safe and secure in clinical environments. Contact your software developer about their HI Service and My Health Record products.
For more information on registering your organisation, visit Services Australia's webpage: Register for Healthcare Identifiers (HI) Service.
For information about your obligations when accessing the HI Service, visit the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner's webpage: Individual healthcare identifiers: obligations for public health service providers.
For software developers and implementers
HI Service integration overview
Before integrating with digital health systems like My Health Record, electronic prescribing, or secure messaging, your software must be able to identify the 3 key participants in a healthcare event:
- individual (IHI)
- healthcare provider (HPI-I)
- healthcare organisation (HPI-O)
These identifiers are managed by the Healthcare Identifiers (HI) Service and are essential for secure, accurate data exchange.
The HI Service provides a business-to-business (B2B) gateway using SOAP-based web services. These allow your software to:
- search for and validate healthcare identifiers
- ensure correct linkage between individuals, providers, and organisations
Your software can either connect directly to the HI Service or use HIPS.
Healthcare Information Provider Service (HIPS)
The Healthcare Information Provider Service (HIPS) is a secure, scalable middleware product that allows healthcare organisations and software vendors to integrate with the HI Service and My Health Record. It primarily supports large-scale digital health environments, such as hospitals and diagnostic service providers.
HIPS enables accurate patient identity matching and clinical data exchange using IHIs, HPI-Is, and HPI-Os. It simplifies system integration, improves data quality, speeds up connectivity, and ensures better patient care by providing easily accessible and reliable health information when and where it matters.
Find out more about HIPS.
Getting started
We recommend starting with the education module: Integration with the Healthcare Identifiers Service.
The integration process involves both Services Australia and the Australian Digital Health Agency and includes:
- technical onboarding
- compliance checks
- access to test environments
For individuals
What is an individual healthcare identifier (IHI)?
Your IHI is a unique 16-digit number that helps healthcare providers correctly match your health information to you.
You don't need to remember your IHI or carry it with you – your healthcare provider can access it when needed.
Your IHI helps:
- prevent mix-ups in your medical records
- ensure the right health information from the right individual is used at the point of care
- support digital health services like My Health Record, the 1800MEDICARE app and electronic prescriptions
How is my IHI used?
Your IHI is used in many digital health services, including:
- My Health Record: a secure summary of your key health information, like test results and hospital visits. Find out more about My Health Record.
- 1800MEDICARE app: see your health details in one place. Find out more about the 1800MEDICARE app.
- electronic prescriptions: prescriptions sent via SMS or email – an alternative to paper prescriptions. Find out more about electronic prescriptions.
- vaccination records: your IHI links your immunisation history across platforms like Medicare and the 1800MEDICARE app.
Do I already have an IHI?
Yes, if you have (or previously had) a:
- Medicare card, or
- Department of Veterans' Affairs (DVA) card
If not, you can apply for an IHI online through myGov or by filling out a form.
Is my IHI the same as my Medicare or DVA card number?
No. Your IHI is different to your Medicare or DVA number.
- Your Medicare number is used for claims, billing and appointments.
- Your DVA card can be used to access medical treatment and concessional prescription medicines.
- Your IHI is used in the background to match you and your healthcare provider with your health records.
Your healthcare provider can use your Medicare or DVA card details to find your IHI. Make sure your provider has your correct:
- Medicare or DVA number
- name (as shown on your Medicare or DVA card)
- date of birth
Where can I find my IHI?
Your IHI starts with 800360 and can be found in:
- My Health Record (under Profile or Documents)
- the 1800MEDICARE app (under Health profile > My details)
- Medicare via myGov (under My details, View and edit my details)
- the Individual Healthcare Identifier service in myGov (if you're not eligible for Medicare).
How is my IHI protected?
The handling of IHIs (collection, use and disclosure) is restricted by law. This means only certain entities can handle IHIs and only for particular purposes. Those purposes generally relate to the communication and management of information as part of providing healthcare and related services, and health administration.
Entities permitted to use IHIs include:
- healthcare providers
- organisations supporting or facilitating care for consumers
- approved researchers (under strict conditions).
If you're concerned about privacy, you can create a pseudonym IHI. However, you won't be able to claim Medicare or PBS benefits using a pseudonym IHI. For more information, visit Services Australia's webpage: Request or merge a pseudonym Individual Healthcare Identifier record form (MS005).
If you believe your IHI has been misused, you can lodge a complaint with the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC).