Invoicing for Therapy using Core Line Items - Participants

Some therapy support item codes have been present within Assistance with Daily Life in the flexible Core budget for several years. These are classed as Disability-Related Health Supports and exist to respond to the disability-related health needs of participants where that care is not the usual responsibility of the health system.  

The NDIA have recently clarified and updated their list of Disability-Related Health Supports that these support items may be used in relation to: 

Dysphagia	Respiratory
Nutrition	Diabetes
Continence	Wound & Pressure Care
Podiatry	Epilepsy

In addition, the list of qualified professionals who may deliver these supports is limited compared to the standard therapies supports in the Improved Daily Living Budget. Only the following types of therapists and therapy assistants can claim from the core support items: 

Dietitian	Occupational Therapist
Physiotherapist	Podiatrist
Psychologist	Speech Pathologist
Other Professional (must be delivering Disability-Related Health Supports in line with the NDIS Quality and Safeguarding Commission’s requirements for the Therapeutic Supports Registration Group)

In short, service providers should only use these support items if you are delivering one of the listed Disability-Related Health Supports AND are one of the listed qualified practitioners. 

This means that not all therapy supports can appropriately be funded through the Core Budget should Improved Daily Living Skills exhaust. 

For fast, compliant NDIS claiming it is important to ensure that the item code being billed matches the service provided. Using a core line item for therapy, whether on an invoice or in a service agreement is something that should only be done if the provider is delivering the qualified supports. 

Full details can be found in the NDIA’s Operational Guideline on Disability-Related Health Supports: Disability-related health supports | NDIS