Coordinated Veterans’ Care (CVC) Program
The CVC Program provides proactive care coordination for Veteran Gold Card holders with chronic health conditions and Veteran White Card holders with chronic DVA-accepted mental health conditions. Providers and participants work as a team to improve the participant’s health care in a general practice setting.
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CVC Program information for providers
The CVC Program is a proactive coordinated care program. It aims to improve participant quality of life and decrease the risk of unplanned hospitalisation.
Within a general practice setting, the participant, their general practitioner (GP) and a care coordinator work as a team to develop a care plan to:
- meet the health needs of the participant
- manage the participant's ongoing care.
The program promotes:
- health literacy
- self-management
- best practice coordination of care through a person-centred approach.
Who can take part
The CVC Program is for veterans who are at risk of unplanned hospitalisation, and hold either:
- a Veteran Gold Card and have a chronic health condition
- a Veteran White Card and have a chronic DVA-accepted mental health condition.
A DVA-accepted mental health condition means DVA has accepted it as being related to a veteran’s military service.
Who is not eligible
Veteran White Card holders who do not have a DVA-accepted mental health condition are not eligible for the CVC Program. They can still get mental health treatment through Non-Liability Health Care.
Veterans who are residents of an aged care facility are not eligible.
Back to topCVC Toolbox
The CVC Toolbox includes:
- an eligibility tool
- information about creating a Comprehensive Care Plan and Care Plan templates for Gold Card holders and White Card holders
- information about when and how to claim
- a claim calculator
- links to other health services in your area
- an Information Hub with links to useful resources.
How to claim
The GP claiming the payment should be the client’s usual GP who provides holistic regular care and has formally enrolled the eligible client into the CVC program If you are the usual GP, you can claim payments shown in the below table. Claims are submitted through Medicare.
Claims for CVC Program payments are checked by Medicare against eligibility criteria prior to payment.
You can get further details about how to claim CVC payments in the CVC Toolbox.
Payments usual GPs can claim
| Usual GP Type | Initial assessment and program enrolment | Item number | Completion of 90 day period of care — review of care plan and eligibility | Item number | Total amount year 1 (includes initial assessment) | Total amount for subsequent years |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GP with practice nurse | $490.65 | UP01 | $512.05 | UP03 | $2538.85 | $2048.20 |
| GP without practice nurse | $306.70 | UP02 | $230.10 | UP04 | $1227.10 | $920.40 |
Date of service
The period of care is 90 days, and UP03 or UP04 quarterly care claims for payment cannot be submitted to Medicare until after the payment period is complete, that is, after 90 days from the Date of Service.
The Date of Service is day 1 of the 90 day period of care.
To calculate dates of service or claim dates please use either the:
Both tools calculate the date of service and the claim date for each CVC participant.
Back to topImprovement and feedback
We will continue to improve our delivery of the CVC Program. Thank you to all those who continue to provide feedback.
We post surveys and requests for feedback here. Please check back to provide your comments and have input into how we shape the CVC Program.
Back to topNotes for CVC Program Providers
The Notes for CVC Program Providers set out legal requirements for those delivering the CVC Program, including:
- GPs
- Practice Nurses
- Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander Primary Health Workers.
The Notes:
Back to topThe role of a community nurse (CN) in the CVC Program
Where a GP does not have access to a practice nurse, they may choose to work with a DVA approved CN provider. The role of the CN in this situation is to coordinate care for the CVC participant. Nurses that work with clients in the CVC Program coordinate their care and need to be in contact with the participant's GP regularly.
Back to topCVC social assistance
CVC social assistance is a short-term service of up to 12 weeks. It is available to CVC Program participants. CVC social assistance helps clients reengage in community life through:
- activities or courses to help the participant connect with their community
- assistance with making social contacts, and
- connecting with a community or ex-service organisation, or other social activity.
Refer a client for CVC social assistance
To refer a client for CVC social assistance, make a referral for an assessment to a Veterans’ Home Care (VHC) Assessment Agency. Phone 1300 550 450 to find the nearest VHC assessment agency.
Back to topContact the CVC team
If you have questions about the CVC Program, you can:
- call: 1800 550 457
What’s New?
‘What’s New?’ is a new section that will be regularly updated with information and Q&As about the CVC Program. Previously asked questions are archived here.
Updates to CVC information guides
There has been no change to CVC client entitlements, however an error in wording has been identified in the CVC Program information brochure and the CVC Program Guide for General Practice. New versions with minor corrections have been published to the Training and Resources page. Correction stickers are available for copies of the brochures and guides you have on hand by emailing CVCProgram [at] dva.gov.au (CVCProgram[at]dva[dot]gov[dot]au).
New rates – indexation
As of 1 July 2024, indexation has been applied to CVC fees which means the amount providers can claim for CVC Items has increased.
Please scroll up to the ‘Payments usual GPs can claim’ section to see the new rates.
Question: I’m a practice nurse and have just started a Gold Card holder veteran on the CVC Program.
I note he has some teeth missing and would like to be able to get him some dental treatment. Is this possible through DVA?
Answer: DVA clients may be able to receive dental services if they have an assessed clinical need and hold a Gold Card (or a White Card and the treatment is for an accepted service-related condition). Please visit Dental services | Department of Veterans' Affairs (dva.gov.au) for more information on what your patient may be entitled to receive.
Question: A new veteran patient has transferred to us from another practice and he is a White Card holder who does not have an accepted mental health condition. He’s interested in accessing CVC. Is he eligible?
Answer: Your patient is eligible for DVA funded mental health treatment under Non Liability Health Care provisions. See non-liability mental health care | Department of Veterans' Affairs (dva.gov.au)
If your patient believes their mental health condition may have been caused by their ADF service, they may lodge a claim with DVA. If their mental health condition is accepted by DVA as related to ADF service, they will be eligible to participate in the CVC Program.
White Card holders must have an accepted mental health condition to be eligible for the CVC Program.
Question: We have several clients in our practice who are veterans and are receiving treatment under the CVC Program. When I tried to put their claims through for UP03 item numbers, all the claims were rejected with this error message “Item cannot be claimed until the last day of period of care”. Some of these clients haven’t had CVC payments claimed since 2021, can you help us work out what is going on?
Answer: When this happens, generally this means the claim may have been lodged too early in the claiming cycle. Quarterly care payments (UPO3 and UP04) must be submitted to Medicare after the payment period is complete, that is, after 90 days from the Date of Service.
For example, the claim with Date of Service 23 May 2024 that was lodged on 1 June 2024, should be lodged at the end of the care period – 21 August 2024.
The claims for each veteran can be submitted again once the care period is completed. If you continue to have problems with claiming, please email CVCProgram [at] dva.gov.au (CVCProgram[at]dva[dot]gov[dot]au)
Question: My CVC patient told me that they are getting random phone calls from another medical organisation which started after they clicked on a social media link about free medication. My recent CVC claim has been rejected through Medicare because the other organisation has already lodged the claim. What should I do?
Answer: You should always try to lodge your claims as soon as practicable at the end of the care period to ensure you correctly receive payment for the CVC services provided through your practice or GP. Issues with rejected payments because another provider has claimed should always be referred to DVA at CVCProgram [at] dva.gov.au (CVCProgram[at]dva[dot]gov[dot]au).
Please be aware that free medications and other inducements are not a part of a CVC care plan, and should not be the basis for enrolment in the CVC Program. Medicines that DVA fund are provided through the Repatriation Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (RPBS) and involve a co-payment for the Veteran Card Holder to pay until they reach the Safety Net threshold. Information on DVA funded medication is available here: Concessional medicines under the RPBS | Department of Veterans' Affairs (dva.gov.au)
Should you have any concerns, please send us an email at CVCProgram [at] dva.gov.au (CVCProgram[at]dva[dot]gov[dot]au).
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