Third-party Accounts

Third-party Accounts at MPAO

Setting up a third-party account

Melbourne Podiatrists & Orthotics will happily enter into a third-party account arrangement with a third-party including:

• Private third-party accounts
• Plan-managed NDIS accounts
• Home Care Package (HCP) accounts

provided a third-party agreement with us is set up.

To set up a third-party account arrangement a third-party will need to fill out our third-party agreement form (available via the link below or by emailing reception@mpao.com.au). This agreement outlines our terms and conditions summarised below.

Download MPAO Third-Party Agreement Form

NB. It is the client’s responsibility to ensure a third-party agreement has been set up prior to their appointment. Incomplete or unsigned agreement forms will result in a void third-party account and the client will be solely responsible for consultation fees.

Invoicing

 All invoices for the patient will be sent to the third-party via email for payment. All third-party invoices will incur an account fee.

NB. Melbourne Podiatrists & Orthotics will not change their invoicing method, lay out, or submit invoices via third-party portals to suit third-parties. If a third-party cannot accept standard invoicing via email, then Melbourne Podiatrists & Orthotics will not enter into a third-party agreement.

Payment

Payment terms are 14 days from date of invoice unless an alternative time frame is arranged with the provider. Payment is accepted via EFT – bank details for payment will be supplied with each invoice.

Please submit remittance to reception@mpao.com.au.

NB. We are a small business without a dedicated accounts team. All accounts are handled by our receptionist team, so we heavily rely on remittance. Failure to submit remittance may result in an account remaining outstanding.

Agreed services

Under a third-party agreement we can only provide clients with basic podiatry services including:

• General foot care -nail cutting, corn, callus removal
• General foot assessment, diagnosis and treatment advice

To provide clients with more advanced treatment and supports including:

• Gait analysis
• Custom and prefabricated orthotics
• Nail surgery
• Shockwave therapy
• Other podiatry services or products

we will require prior financial approval and payment from the third-party.

Fees

All consultations will be charged at our normal private client rates. All third-party accounts are subject to an account fee in addition to the consultation fee due to the extra administration involved.

A fee schedule can be found on our third-party agreement forms.

Appointments

Appointments can be made for clients by calling the clinic on (03) 9882 5584 or via the online bookings page on our website.

NB. Melbourne Podiatrists & Orthotics do not accept bookings via email and will not call clients to arrange their appointments. Booking an appointment is the responsibility of the client or their third-party representative.

Cancellations without notice & failure to attend appointments

Failure for the client to attend their appointment under a third-party agreement such as:

• failing to attend
• failure to give at least 24 hours’ notice of cancellation
• arriving more than 15 minutes late to the appointment, causing the provider to reschedule

will result in the full consultation fee plus an account fee being charged. There will be no warnings given to clients with third-party accounts.

Terms & conditions

1. The third-party agrees to pay all invoices and charges from the provider relating to the client, according to the agreed invoicing and payment terms.
2. Melbourne Podiatrists & Orthotics will not change their invoicing method, lay out, or submit invoices via third-party portals to suit third-parties. If a third-party cannot accept standard invoicing via email, then Melbourne Podiatrists & Orthotics will not enter into a third-party agreement.
3. Future consultations and appointments for the client will only proceed once invoices are fully paid. If accounts remain outstanding, we will have no option but to defer treatment until full payment is received from the third-party.
4. Failure to pay invoices according to the agreed payment terms may result in Melbourne Podiatrists & Orthotics cancelling the third-party agreement.
5. The client will be requested to pay any outstanding invoice that is not paid by the third-party according to the agreed payment terms.
6. Melbourne Podiatrists & Orthotics has the right to refuse or cancel any third-party agreement if they feel the agreement is not genuine.
7. Either party may terminate the third-party agreement by providing written notification to the other party and the client.

Self-claiming for non-third-party arrangements

Where a third-party arrangement cannot be entered into with us or is cancelled for various reasons, we advise clients who still want to use our services, to pay on the day and use their receipt to self-claim from their third-party provider.

NDIS

Melbourne Podiatrists & Orthotics is an UNREGISTERED NDIS PROVIDER.

Only NDIS participants who self-manage their plans or have a registered plan manager can access unregistered provider services. As an unregistered provider we are not regulated by the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission. Therefore, we can choose to charge any price, either below or above the price limits. We charge all third-party clients, including NDIS plan-managed patients, the same rate as we charge our private clients with an extra account fee due to the extra administration costs.

Self-managed NDIS Plans

For self- managed plans we invoice the client directly for payment. The client will then have to manually claim the funds back from the NDIS, using the NDIS portal. A third-party agreement is not required for self-managed plans.

Plan-managed NDIS Plans

For plan managed plans we invoice the client’s plan manager and they pay for the client’s services. All NDIS plan-managed plans will require a third-party agreement to be set up with us prior to a client accessing our services.

NDIA Plans

As an unregistered NDIS provider, we unfortunately cannot provide any services to clients under a NDIA plan.

Home Care Packages

Melbourne Podiatrists & Orthotics are happy to treat clients under a home care package provided a third-party account arrangement with us is set up. Please note, we only provide in clinic podiatry services and do not offer home visits.

We will not provide Home Care Services with extra compliance documents such as police checks and insurance documents. All of our podiatrists are registered with AHPRA and as a fully regulated AHPRA profession, the podiatry board’s registration standard covers these requirements.

As a registered podiatrist with AHPRA:

All podiatrists undergo a criminal history check when they first apply for registration. They must also declare any change when they annually renew their registration.

All practising podiatrists are required to have professional indemnity insurance (PII) that is adequate for their level of podiatric practice and meets the registration standard. Every year when a podiatrist renews their registration, they are required to make a declaration that they will not practise without appropriate professional indemnity insurance arrangements being in place.

More details can be found on the podiatry board website:

https://www.podiatryboard.gov.au/Registration-Standards.aspx

If a Home Care Service is not satisfied with the above registration standards, we will not enter into a third-party account arrangement, and we will be unable to treat the client under a Home Care Package.

Further questions

Should you have any further questions regarding third-party accounts please contact our reception team:

reception@mpao.com.au or (03) 9882 5584.