Read the pre-registration checklist

To ensure your registration with Provider Connect Australia (also known as PCA) is as smooth as possible, please complete this checklist before starting registration. This ensures you have taken any required steps and collected the necessary information to register. 

Steps 1, 2 and 4 may require information or decisions from other people in your organisation – please allow sufficient time for this.

Detailed steps

Step 1: Steps to obtain a Healthcare Provider Identifier - Organisation (HPI-O)

In Australia, you need a Healthcare Provider Identifier – Organisation (HPI-O) to connect your healthcare practice to the national digital health ecosystem. It acts as a digital fingerprint that verifies your business identity so you can securely share patient data.

An HPI-O is required to:

• Use electronic prescribing (ePrescribing) to issue electronic prescriptions through conformant clinical software.
• Access My Health Record to view, upload and manage patient health information.
• Send and receive secure electronic messages, including referrals and diagnostic results such as pathology and radiology reports.
• Obtain a NASH certificate, which provides the digital security credentials needed to access and use national digital health services securely.
• Access the Health Connect Australia Provider Directory (HCAPD) to support the discovery of healthcare providers and services.

If your organisation is not registered in the Healthcare Identifiers service, register it first and obtain your HPI-O: Register as a health care provider organisation.  More information is available on our Healthcare Identifiers page.

Step 2: Decide who will accept the participation agreement

As part of registering for PCA, someone in your organisation will need to accept the participation agreement to agree to the terms and conditions of use. This needs to be determined in advance.

You will need to decide if you or someone else will accept the participation agreement between the Agency and your organisation as a delegated authority or an authorised officer.

Accepting as an authorised contact or an organisation maintenance officer (OMO) of a HI Organisation in the HI Service

If you are accepting the participation agreement as an authorised contact or an organisation maintenance officer, organisation registration will be auto approved. Additional evidence of authority document is not required.

The authorised officer execution requirements depend on your organisation’s legal structure.

Accepting as a delegated authority

If you are accepting the participation agreement as a delegated authority, you will also need to:

• make a statutory declaration and
• sign it in front of an authorised witness

Download an example statutory declaration (PDF, 243.96 KB) with details of who can witness it.

• scan the signed declaration to PDF and upload it against the organisation you are registering.

This means that during registration, you will need access to:

• your authorised witness
• a printer and a scanner.

Step 3: Ensure you have a PRODA account

PRODA is an online identity verification and authentication system that lets you securely access government online services.

Find out how to create a PRODA account.

Set up a PRODA account using myID. You may have already setup a myID to access other government services such as myGov. To set up a new myID account, you will need:

• a smart device – the myID app is compatible with most smart devices, such as smart phones, and is only available from the Apple App Store or Google Play
• a personal email address – as it’s your personal Digital ID, your ID documents will be linked to the email you choose. It should not be a shared or work email address
• to be 15 years or older – age restrictions may also apply to use some government online services.

Alternatively, when setting up a PRODA account using identity documents, you will need an email address and three forms of personal identification, including:

• Two of the following documents: Medicare Card, Australian driver's licence, ImmiCard or an Australian Passport; and
• One of the following documents: Australian Passport, Australian Birth Certificate, ImmiCard, Citizenship Certificate, Australian Visa (supported by a Foreign passport, which is needed for verification), or a Certificate of Registration by Descent.

Note: If your current name is different to the name on any of your documents, you will need to provide one change of name document, such as a Marriage Certificate or a Change of Name Certificate.

Step 4: Gather your organisation details

You will need to have the following information about your organisation prior to registering your organisation in the PCA.

1. Your Organisation’s ABN
2. Postal address associated with the organisation/legal entity.
3. Phone and fax numbers, website address, organisation email address, and an email address for legal notices (which may be the same as the organisation email address)