Provider Connect Australia – Improved communications between your healthcare organisation and its business partners
Provider Connect Australia (PCA), an initiative of the Australian Digital Health Agency (ADHA), is a secure online platform that connects healthcare provider organisations with key business partners, helping to streamline updates to practice and practitioner registrations, changes in services provided and hours of operation, and other critical business information all in one place.
When your practice updates its details in PCA, this information is pushed out to your selected business partners. This saves the administrative burden of contacting all business partners individually with the updated information about your practice. This includes updates made to your healthcare provider listing in the National Health Service Directory (NHSD) operated by Healthdirect.
Update your practice’s details on Healthdirect automatically through PCA
PCA is now the preferred way to update practice details for the National Health Services Directory (NHSD). It is important to keep details in the NHSD current, as many patients and other healthcare providers rely on the NHSD to locate and contact relevant services in their area.
When seeking to update service details on the Healthdirect website, such as amending opening hours due to a partial or full closure for the day, please do so only via PCA. Updates to business information recorded in PCA automatically updates your NHSD listing within hours, giving the public access to correct information about your health service in the shortest time possible.
Reduce administration burden with Provider Connect Australia (PCA)
Healthcare organisations rely on many business partners to support their healthcare delivery. Registering with these partners and keeping them updated with changes can be a significant administrative burden.
A typical healthcare provider organisation’s business partners can include:
• primary health networks (PHNs)
• funders (such as Medicare, private health insurers, and workplace and accident insurers)
• communication services (such as secure messaging services and prescription exchanges)
• health services directories (such as the National Health Services Directory operated by Healthdirect)
• private and government clinical programs
• clinical pathways services
• online booking systems
• diagnostic services
• public and private hospitals.
In most cases, these business partners require healthcare organisations to register details of the healthcare services they provide and the practitioners that provide them.
When a new practitioner joins a practice or clinic around 10 to 15 different forms, with very similar information, will typically need to be completed to update these partners. These partners must also be notified when a practitioner leaves a healthcare service.
Simplify and streamline this process by updating your practice’s information in PCA. Alternatively, many practice management systems are easily integrated with PCA so that business information updates made in the practice software are automatically recorded in PCA too, helping these updates to flow on to business partners.
How to register your practice with PCA
General practices and other healthcare organisations only need to register once for PCA via Provider Digital Access (PRODA).
Visit the PCA page on the Australian Digital Health Agency website to find out more and to register. If you need additional support phone the ADHA on (02) 6223 0741.
More information on PCA for healthcare providers
View the factsheet to learn more about the features and benefits of registering your organisation with Provider Connect Australia (PCA)