NEWS

COVID-19 Vaccine Update

23 December 2020

The Department of Health is making important changes to the AIR (Australia Immunisation Register) to support COVID-19 vaccinations. The changes make it mandatory for all recognised vaccination providers to submit a record of vaccine administration to the Australian Immunisation Register (AIR) that includes a newly created serial number.

The key components of these changes are:

The need to track and trace every dose of the COVID-19 vaccination.
The potential addition of four new vaccines to the AIR in 2021.
COVID-19 vaccines being rolled out in stages to priority population groups.

The requirement for the ability to track and trace every dose of a COVID-19 vaccination in the AIR will be effective from 1 March 2021 (vaccine date and prioritised consumer segments are yet to be confirmed).

The tester environment is expected to be made available to us in February 2021 and we will have to make some necessary product updates to enable the required changes. This will occur within a short timeframe and in line with the Federal plan which continues to evolve.

This will require an upgrade of your Communicare application to comply with the new legislation. We will continue to share updates on timings as more information becomes available.

Safe and happy holidays

18 December 2020

We'd like to wish all our wonderful customers a safe and happy holiday!

Our Communicare Support team will be hard at work as usual. Support hours over the Christmas and New Year period are 7am-5pm WST, except for public holidays.

Services Australia IHI Web Service Issue

8 December 2020

Services Australia has identified an issue in their Healthcare Identifiers IHI Inquiry web services, affecting the date of birth field. In some instances, this is causing IHI validation failures. A resolution is being worked on by Services Australia as a high priority.

We will provide an update when we know more.

MBS December 2020 - updated

3 December 2020

The revised 1 December Medicare Benefits Schedule update is now available.

From 1 December 2020, substitute nuclear medicine imaging items (61311, 61332, 61333, 61336, 61337, 61341 and 61344) will recommence, and five new substitute items (61365, 61377, 61380, 61418 and 61422) will commence to allow patients access to certain nuclear medicine services during a disruption in the supply. More information on this change is available on the December 2020 news page at http://www.mbsonline.gov.au/internet/mbsonline/publishing.nsf/Content/news-201201.

To download the update, in the Upgrade and Release Details pane, click Download MBS.

MIMS Drug Data December 2020

1 December 2020

The December 2020 MIMS data is now available.

Web Services for Medicare Online, DVA, AIR and ECLIPSE update

15 October 2020

As you may be aware, the Department of Human Services is upgrading their digital health and aged care channels from the current adaptor technology to web services for Medicare Online, DVA, AIR and ECLIPSE by 13 March 2022. These channels will also be moved from PKI security to a new authentication system called Provider Digital Access (PRODA).

Communicare technical teams are looking into the required changes. We plan to have the required changes to online claiming available and working with the Medicare changes before the due date and will keep you updated on the Communicare release dates for changes to help you schedule your testing process.

In the interim, to prepare for the change, follow the task list laid out by Services Australia. For more information, see humanservices.gov.au/hpwebservices.

COVID-19 related information