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COVID-19 update
Thank you to those of you in the Auckland, Waikato, and Northland areas who continue to support our clients under Alert Level 3 restrictions.
Information about providing services at all Alert Levels is available on our website. We follow the Ministry of Health guidance to make our decisions on what services can be provided at different Alert Levels. We’ll update you if there are any changes to this guidance as the situation changes.
Supporting vaccine access for vulnerable clients
We know that some of our vulnerable clients may find it difficult to access vaccination centres to receive their COVID-19 vaccines. This may include ACC clients in residential facilities or those with a serious injury.
If you know of any vulnerable clients who want to be vaccinated but have not been able to get to a vaccination centre, please ask them to contact us. We can approve transport – including, where needed, getting a vaccinator to visit a client if they cannot leave their home. |
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Allied Health Services (AHS) contract update
We had over 400 applications for the new integrated Allied Health Services contract, and our Procurement team has been busy processing the applications over the last month.
We’ve started letting applicants know if they’ve been successful or not. If you applied for the Allied Health Services Contract and haven’t heard from us yet, please be assured you’ll hear from us soon.
Getting ready for 1 November
Congratulations to the successful applicants, we’re looking forward to partnering with you! To help you be ready for 1 November, we’ve sent you further information, such as the Operational Guidelines, that provides further support information to the Allied Health Services Service Schedule.
All of this information is also available in the Resources section of our website.
Remember to sign your contract and send it back to the email address you received from the contract offer from. This will enable us to activate your contract and accept your invoices under the AHS contract from 1 November. |
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Changes for suppliers who didn't apply for the new Allied Health Services contract
For physiotherapists, hand therapists and podiatrists who currently hold the Physiotherapy, Hand Therapy and Orthotics Contract expiring on 31 October, and didn’t apply for the Allied Health Services (AHS) contract, learn more about your next steps here.
Changed your mind and want to apply for the AHS contract?
Before 1 November:
New suppliers and current suppliers of the current Physiotherapy, Hand Therapy and Orthotics contracts can still apply for the contract. However, this will not guarantee you will be awarded the contract before 1 November.
Please contact health.procurement@acc.co.nz.
From 1 November:
The open contract will be available to apply for on Government Electronic Tender Service (GETS). The contract will remain open for applications for the duration of the contract.
New suppliers wanting to apply for the new Allied Health Services Contract must download the RFA document from GETS and send the completed RFA to acchealthtenders@acc.co.nz. |
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Evidence-based reviews of chiropractic and osteopathy
We’re always looking for ways to improve health outcomes for injured New Zealanders. To do this we need to have a good understanding of the treatments being provided and how they support our clients to achieve the best possible outcomes.
Over the next year, we’re working with the International Centre for Allied Health Evidence (iCAHE) based at the University of South Australia (UniSA) to conduct evidence-based reviews of chiropractic and osteopathy in the management of musculoskeletal conditions. Professional practice expert reference groups for the two disciplines will consider each review separately and independently.
The expert reference groups (ERGs) will ensure we have sector experts providing insights and advice throughout the process. Nominations have been provided to us by the New Zealand Chiropractors Association and Osteopaths New Zealand. We’re in the process of confirming nominations and are due to hold the first ERG meeting in late October.
More detail on the research questions, methodology and process of the evidence-based reviews are included in the attached Q&A document.
We’ll keep you updated on this activity. If you have any questions, please contact HealthSectorPartnerships@acc.co.nz.
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Phone and email response times improving
As we mentioned last month, our teams have recently been focused on the most urgent activities to support our clients’ rehabilitation.
We’re now on top of these activities and have been able to put more effort into our email response times. It’s now taking our teams an average of three working days to respond to all emails, and we expect to be able to maintain and improve this turnaround time. We’re also maintaining our 48-hour response time on time critical emails marked “URGENT”.
We’ve also made some changes to our phone systems and processes to support us to answer your calls more quickly. Calls to the contact centre are typically being answered within 3-5 minutes. When there is higher than expected call volume we’ve introduced an option for you to receive a call back from us, holding your position in the queue without having to wait on the phone. We’re also working through technology options to help us improve our response times in Assisted Recovery for queries that can’t be answered by our contact centre team.
Thank you again for your patience and understanding.
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Getting ready for ProviderHub
If you’re an existing user of e-Business Gateway or e-Lodgement, hold an ISSC contract or use the electronic ACC32 form on our website, it’s time to start getting ready for ProviderHub.
ProviderHub is our new online platform that will bring our online services for providers into one place, including claims and invoice submission and queries. Once we have launched ProviderHub and everyone is invited to register and login, we’ll be turning off our old systems.
To help make this process as smooth as possible, a member of our team will contact your business over the next three months to clarify:
- whether you have non-clinical staff (such as administrators or managers) who will need access to submit and query invoices, and query claims
- who should be authorised to update your business’s details in ProviderHub, including your bank account and contact details
- names, work phone numbers and email addresses for these people - so we can pre-register them in ProviderHub now and make it easier for them to start using the system next year.
Between now and Christmas we’ll be running online webinars for anyone who wants to know more about ProviderHub - how it will work, and what it means for you. We’ll let you know more about these webinars when we contact you.
Learn more about ProviderHub and this process here, or visit our website to find out more about ProviderHub.
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Acupuncture treatment changes coming
From 15 December, new limits will apply to acupuncture treatments provided to our clients.
The number of treatments without the need for further approval is changing from 16 over 52 weeks to 12 treatments over 12 weeks. The number of treatments is counted from the client’s first appointment.
A process will be in place for acupuncturists to apply for further treatment with supporting clinical evidence using an ACC32 treatment extension request form. These will be considered on a case-by-case basis for ACC clients with a mental injury, serious injury, and those who’ve recently had surgery, where evidence shows there’s benefit to longer-term treatment.
Any client receiving treatment when the change comes into effect will have their treatment limits reset to zero. This means they will be funded for a further 12 treatments over 12 weeks, starting from their next appointment.
This decision was made following an extensive Evidence-Based Review, consultation with the acupuncture sector and discussions with clients who have received acupuncture as part of their rehabilitation journey.
For any enquiries about this change please see our FAQs or email acupuncture@acc.co.nz. |
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Do you have more than one vendor or provider number?
Some healthcare providers are set up in our systems with more than one vendor or provider number. There are some historical reasons for this, but we’re now working to consolidate numbers, so every provider has a single provider number and every healthcare business has just one vendor ID number. This will make things simpler for you, as you’ll only need to remember one number for each.
If you have more than one vendor or provider number, you can expect to hear from our Registrations team over the next few months. They’ll be in touch by phone to talk through this with you.
If you have any questions about your ID numbers or this change, please contact registrations@acc.co.nz. |
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Using appropriate details in electronic test claims
When submitting ACC test claims electronically please do not use real client information. There have been instances where a fake name was used, along with a client’s real address and phone number.
We do have a process for these test claims, but on the occasions these are not identified, our system will generate a generic letter and send it to the address on the claim form send or a text message to a client.
To help us reduce this risk please use ‘Mr Test Patient’ as the name and, if you need to, the phone number and address of your own practice.
This will make it easier for our staff to identify and correctly process these test claims.
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