What Providers Need to Know About Invoicing! Over the last few months, the PACE system has slowly become the new normal for many participants on the NDIS. We have seen that most new plans have been on the PACE system as it has gradually been rolled out nationwide since November 2023. With a significant number of participants now on the PACE system, we have put together a summary in this blog of the key changes that have been made in the last few months. Some of these have been covered in previous blogs, but there is always new information to learn about the NDIA and their processes. We have ..read more

With the new payment process set by the NDIA in mind, it is more important than ever to ensure that invoices sent to First2Care are accurate and compliant to ensure that payments are made as quickly as possible. If we are having to chase clarifications, corrects, and amendments, then this will slow down the payment process as we are having to delay making a claim submission to the NDIA. Our commitment is to have invoices paid to providers within five business days of us receiving them. However, in order to do this, we need to ensure that we are not needing to follow up missing or incorrect ..read more

Renting or hiring assistive technology (AT), is common practice within the NDIS space. Many of our providers, from therapists who conduct assessments to support workers assisting participants to utilise their AT in day-to-day life, will know that AT needs can change quickly. Under the NDIA’s new PACE system, AT rental has been separated from the general Capital AT budget and moved into a standalone category called Assistive Technology Maintenance, Repair and Rental (19). Because it is now in its own category, it is a little more restrictive. Funds within the Capital budget are stated, which m ..read more

At First2Care, we aim to submit all invoices to the NDIA within one to two business days of receiving them. Given the NDIA then processes and releases funding within three business days of this receipt, our expectation is to have your invoices paid within five business days of you sending them to us. However, we do sometimes require a little assistance in this by your invoices being presented in a clear and concise manner. When submitting your invoices, we have several tips and tricks for being able to ensure that they are processed as quickly and efficiently as possible. We prefer that invoi ..read more

The new NDIS PACE system has gradually been rolling out nationwide for the last few months. For most participants now on the new system, this has resulted in minimal to no disruption to their NDIS experience. As with any new system, teething issues are always going to be inevitable, and this has impacted a few of our clients since November 2023. Given most of these issues have been reoccurring across multiple participants, we have put together this information for anyone expecting to transition to the new PACE system with their next plan. These will be important things to consider and to raise ..read more

Since the rollout of the NDIS really hit its stride , a common concern raised by participants, advocates, and governments is equality in pricing for NDIS participants vs those not on the Scheme. The NDIS Review heard of the experiences of many participants who were able to demonstrate that the price they have been quoted for services or supports changed once their provider realised they were an NDIS participant. Minister Bill Shorten has been particularly vocal on the subject, and as of 15/12/2023 the NDIS Act has been amended to prohibit, without reasonable justification: Advertising a price ..read more

The NDIA’s new PACE system has begun rolling out nationwide, with thousands of participants now transitioned to the platform. In most cases, the change has no impact on the day-to-day plan utilisation, but some key changes can result in confusion or difficulty. The creation of the Home and Living category of funding means that Supported Independent Living (SIL) is now no longer part of flexible core. This means that unless Home and Living is included in the participant’s plan, SIL cannot be paid. In this way, SIL is more akin to a standalone budget for capacity building than Core in the tradit ..read more

The NDIS is generally not set up to handle most emergency situations. If you are in a crisis and are in need of urgent or immediate attention, your first port of call should always be the emergency services. Should you be hospitalised, the majority of your supports covered by the NDIS will likely temporarily cease. The hospital, and therefore the medical system, will pick up the responsibility for your care, which is outside the purview of the NDIA. We have previously covered Supports in Hospital here: Supports in Hospital. Health services have an obligation to have ‘capabilities to meet the n ..read more

There are some occasions where it is not feasible or possible for a provider to invoice a plan manager in order to fund a support or purchase. On these occasions, it may be more practical for a participant, or an authorised representative, to make a purchase out of pocket. This can then be submitted to a plan manager as a reimbursement claim. So that these claims can be processed smoothly, there are a number of important details to consider. Some of these may be requirements set by the NDIA, while others could be processes that we have put in place to ensure that nothing is missed and payments ..read more

At First2Care, we aim to have your invoices processed and paid within two business days of receiving them. However, we do sometimes require a little assistance in this by your invoices being presented in a clear and concise manner. When submitting your invoices, we have several tips and tricks for being able to ensure that they are processed as quickly and efficiently as possible. We prefer that invoices are sent in a PDF format. This allows our system to automatically pick up much of the required details, skipping most of the manual data entry phase and speeding up the process. In addition t ..read more