Digital inclusion improved with online allied health registration process
Published 17 July 2020
It’s now much easier for allied healthcare professionals to register for a healthcare provider identifier (HPI-I) with the Healthcare Identifiers Service.
Approximately 45,000 practising allied health professionals – not AHPRA registered and therefore not automatically assigned an HPI-I – now have a pathway to obtain an identifier.
The previous process of completing a paper form and waiting days or weeks for approval has been replaced with a faster and easier online process.
To date, many allied health professionals have not registered for an HPI-I, due to process complexity and difficulty. A large proportion work in private practice, many as sole traders or in small practices. This initiative has now significantly streamlined a complex process and addressed one of the adoption barriers.
Practices need at least one staff member with an HPI-I so that the practice can register for an HPI-O and participate in My Health Record. This will let them see their patients’ medications, pathology and diagnostic imaging results and other key health information.
The new process to get an HPI-I is available through Health Professional Online Services (HPOS) and will improve registration approval time from weeks to days. Allied healthcare professionals can register, renew or add professional details in the Healthcare Identifiers Service.
This new process will enable and promote digital inclusion for allied health. It has been co-designed with the Agency, Services Australia, allied health providers, AHPA and four peak bodies: Exercise and Sports Science Australia, Speech Pathology Australia, Audiology Australia and Dietitians Association of Australia.
Manager, Policy and Advocacy at Exercise and Sports Science Australia Joanne Webb said there had been a strong initial uptake of the new service by exercise physiologists.
Erin West, NDIS and Practice Advisor at Speech Pathology Australia, said she was able to register under the new process quite easily.
“All I needed was my SPA membership and my registration came through quite quickly,” she said. “It’s nice to know as an allied health provider this process has been streamlined to make it easier and more intuitive.”
Find out more on the My Health Record in allied health webpage.
As part of the registration with the Healthcare Identifiers Service, professional details can automatically be added to the Healthcare Provider Directory. This means healthcare providers can more easily be found by others searching the directory for healthcare professionals.