As per the published regulations which categorises the essential services and supplies, your practice may be able to continue practicing during the lockdown period. We have obtained the following information and recommendations from trusted healthcare sources.

Application to continue practicing under the classification of essential service and supplies

• General practitioners and other medical professionals providing emergency care are not required to complete an application to continue practicing.
• For all other medical professionals, it is recommended that you follow the application process – refer to the toolkit for information regarding the application process.

Recommendations to ensure you and your staff can move freely to and from work

• Please ensure that you always carry with you proof of your identification as a medical professional and registration as an essential service. These should also be available at your practice.
• Issue your staff with a permit to prove they work at a business that renders essential services.  Please refer to the toolkit for a permit template.
• For reference, a copy of the Government Gazette has been included in the toolkit. We recommend that you print this and keep the same on hand with your staff, highlighting the points in the regulations noting the nature of their essential service (that being Annexure B – point B1 – Medical, Health including Mental Health, Laboratory and Medical Services).

Important coding information

• A reminder with regards to the information received from The World Health Organisation, an emergency ICD-10 code of U07.1 is assigned to COVID-19 disease diagnosis. For further detail and examples when confronted with COVID-19 related coding please refer to the detailed information provided by PHISC.
• For general practitioners conducting virtual or telephone consults, it is recommended to use charge code 0130.

To download the toolkit please visit the following webpage here

Healthbridge will be making similar applications as per the above. We too deem ourselves an essential supporting service to the healthcare industry. As a partner, we will continue to communicate to you as we understand more about the impact and are committed to supporting our clients through this challenging time.  In addition, we have fully geared up our staff to work remotely and continue to serve our clients seamlessly.