Information for DVA approved Community Nursing providers

Last updated:

26 June 2024

To provide community nursing services to DVA clients, you must meet the Community Nursing (CN) Program provider requirements and have a current provider number.

If you are not an approved CN provider but wish to apply, please refer to How to become a DVA approved community nursing provider.

Community nursing services overview

DVA funds approved Community Nursing (CN) providers to provide services to meet the assessed nursing needs of eligible Veteran Card holders, through the CN Program.

The CN Program aims to enhance independence and health outcomes for eligible clients, helping them to stay at home.

The personnel that deliver CN services include:

registered nurses (RN)
enrolled nurses (EN)
personal care workers (PCW) (also known as nursing support staff).

For general information on DVA community nursing services, including eligibility and how clients access services, please refer to the general information page.

Key information and documents for the provision of CN services

Terms and Conditions for the provision of Community Nursing services

The Terms and Conditions are the agreement between the CN provider and DVA. The agreement comprises the Terms and Condition, the Notes for Community Nursing Providers and the Community Nursing Schedule of Fees.

Effective April 2020:

Notes for Community Nursing Providers (the Notes)

The Notes outline the CN Program requirements that providers must adhere to when delivering CN services.

You can find the notes here:

The current version of the Notes are effective from 1 July 2024.

Community Nursing Schedule of Fees

The CN Schedule of Fees are the set fees that compensate a CN provider for the costs associated with the provision of CN services during a 28-day claim period. The cost components covered by the fees for the provision of CN services include:

face-to-face time
travel time
general time
labour on-costs
overheads
profit margin
‘nurse’s toolbox’ consumables.

Changes applied to the Schedule of Fees, including indexation, take effect for claim periods commencing on or after the date the change is applied.

Effective 1 July 2024:

Effective 1 January 2024:

Effective 1 November 2023:

Effective 1 July 2023:

Effective 1 January 2023:

Ready Reckoners

Ready Reckoners are available to assist providers in determining the correct 28 day claim periods.
2024 ready reckoners:

2023 ready reckoners:

Claiming

As a CN provider, it is your responsibility to check your client’s eligibility before you provide services or claim for services.

CN providers can claim for services on a 28-day claim period basis. The 28-day claim period includes all the services you deliver to the client during that time.

Services are claimed directly through Medicare (Services Australia) using your DVA CN provider number. Services Australia will pay the claim on DVA’s behalf.

For further information on claiming, refer to Claiming for CN services.

Minimum Data Set

You will need to complete a Minimum Data Set (MDS) collection tool if you claim manually through Medicare:
Once the MDS form has been completed this must be sent to mds [at] dva.gov.au (mds[at]dva[dot]gov[dot]au).

Refer to the Notes for CN providers and the MDS Collection Tool – Quick Reference Guide for further information:

Exceptional Cases

Some DVA clients require nursing care that is not covered in the Schedule of Fees. We review these cases individually and assess them through an Exceptional Case process to make sure clients receive the CN services they require. Refer to the Exceptional Case process page for further details.

Quality management

We require CN providers to take part in performance monitoring processes, to help ensure quality and safe services are being delivered to DVA clients. These processes include contract management activities, quality and safety audits and post payment monitoring.

Further information on these processes can be found in the Notes for CN providers and in the Frequently Asked Questions – CN Provider Quality Improvements

Frequently Asked Questions – CN Provider Quality Improvements (PDF 623 KB)
Frequently Asked Questions – CN Provider Quality Improvements (DOCX 124 KB)

Community Nursing Newsletters

The CN Newsletters are issued to all CN providers to provide updates on the CN Program. You can find the latest versions here: Community Nursing Newsletters.

Enquiries

If you have any enquiries relating to the CN Program (e.g. the Notes, Schedule of Fees, claiming, Exceptional Cases) please email the CN Program team at nursing [at] dva.gov.au (nursing[at]dva[dot]gov[dot]au)

If you have any enquiries relating to quality management (e.g. quality and safety audits, quality improvement, post payment monitoring) please email the CN Quality team at CN.Program.Quality [at] dva.gov.au (CN[dot]Program[dot]Quality[at]dva[dot]gov[dot]au)

If you have any enquiries relating to your CN contract (e.g. Terms & Conditions, contact details, sub-contracting arrangements) please email community.nursing.contracts [at] dva.gov.au (community[dot]nursing[dot]contracts[at]dva[dot]gov[dot]au)

Update your provider details

We need to make sure CN providers receive important information and resources. To do this we ask that you keep your organisation contact details current. This should be someone who can easily circulate information to relevant staff working within your organisation. You can use this form to update your contact details:

Once completed, send the form to community.nursing.contracts [at] dva.gov.au (community[dot]nursing[dot]contracts[at]dva[dot]gov[dot]au)