Allied Health Services
What is allied health?
- Allied health is a broad term referring to all of the many different health professions that are not medical, dental or nursing professions.
- All allied health professionals are university-qualified practitioners that have specific training and expertise in diagnosing and treating various medical conditions.
- They are valued member of a patient’s healthcare and form an important part of a patient’s multidisciplinary care team.
Why is allied health important?
- As we continue to promote a biopsychosocial model of health, allied health professionals are becoming increasingly more important in managing a patient’s health.
- Allied health professionals provide an additional paradigm of support for a patient that is not specifically covered by their medical practitioners.
- Allied health plays a vital role in a patient’s care in all healthcare settings including inpatients, outpatients, acute and chronic care.
- As Australia’s population continues to grow, and to age, the amount of time and attention that doctors can give to their patients is being stretched. Allied health professionals are becoming more important in this context as they can help to provide the patient with not only physical but emotional, social and mental support.
What are the main areas of allied health practice?
There are six main areas of allied health practice: aged care, chronic disease, disability, mental health, musculoskeletal health and rehabilitation.
- Aged care
- As older Australians are continuing to make up a greater proportion of the population, allied health has become incredibly important because older Australians are more likely to require additional care and support. Allied health professionals play a vital role in managing chronic diseases and injuries from falls, both of which have higher rates in aged care settings.
- The main roles of allied health professionals in aged care are:
- Promotion of healthy ageing and reducing likelihood of aged-related diseases such as dementia
- Reducing the impact of chronic diseases on a patient’s life
- Introducing and running interventions that aim to manage and mitigate falls risk
- Rehabilitation care following a fall or serious injury or illness, such as a stroke
- Educate the patient about various aged care services and help patients to navigate their way through the aged care system
- Allied health professionals that are involved in aged care often include:
- Occupational therapists
- Physiotherapists
- Dieticians
- Speech pathologists
- Psychologists
- Arts and music therapists
- Chronic disease
- Chronic diseases are the major cause of death and disability in Australia, and burden of chronic disease is growing exponentially. The most common chronic diseases in Australia are diabetes, heart disease, kidney disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, osteoarthritis, and mental ill-health. These health problems place significant strain on Australia’s healthcare system as well as markedly reduce a patient’s quality of life.
- Allied health professionals play a key role in the prevention, treatment and management of these diseases which involves:
- Educating patients about their illness
- Encouraging patients to be active participants of their health team
- Providing emotional and mental support for patients and their families
- Promotion of self-management and independence
- Planning and coordinating a patient’s care as part of a multidisciplinary team
- Allied health professionals that are involved in diabetes care often include:
- Diabetes educators
- Dietitians
- Exercise physiologists
- Podiatrists
- Optometrist
- Disability
- Almost 20% of Australians live with some form of disability and allied health professionals play an integral role in delivering the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS).
- Allied health providers are important participants in a patient’s care whether their disability be physical, psychosocial, intellectual or developmental. Their main aims for a person living with a disability are:
- Enabling independence as much as possible
- Allowing participation in everyday life whether that be at home, school or work
- Improving all elements of health and wellbeing
- Allied health professionals that are involved in disabilities often include:
- Audiologists
- Occupational therapists
- Physiotherapists
- Speech pathologists
- Psychologists
- Art and music therapists
- Mental health
- Similarly, to disabilities, almost 20% of Australians suffer from mental ill-health that range in complexity and the way in which they manifest.
- Common mental health disorders seen in the community include depression and mood disorders, anxiety disorders, and personality disorders.
- Mental health conditions that may require inpatient settings, especially for an acute exacerbations or episodes, include psychosis and schizophrenia.
- Mental ill-health also extends to include psychological traumas such as life crises, family conflict, and relationship breakdowns.
- Allied health professionals that are involved in mental health often include:
- Clinical psychologists
- Registered psychologist
- Social workers
- Occupational therapists
- Dieticians (for eating disorders)
- Art and music therapists
- Musculoskeletal health
- Musculoskeletal conditions are extremely prevalent in Australia, with one third of Australians suffering from either osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, osteoporosis or chronic back pain. These conditions become more common with ageing. These chronic pain disorders can significantly reduce a patient’s mobility, disabling them from carrying out their everyday activities or participating in recreational activities. As the pain continues, individuals lose their fitness and become deconditioned which exacerbates their problem. Ultimately, these conditions can drastically reduce a patient’s quality of life. Allied health professionals are a core element of the patient’s multidisciplinary team. For complex cases, allied health professionals with advanced training can provide more specialised care and aim to:
- Allow the patient to take control of their condition
- Improve the patient’s quality of life through improving and restore their mobility and function
- Provide emotional and psychological support to the patient
- Help the patient cope with pain without over-reliance on medications
- Allied health professionals that are involved in MSK health often include:
- Physiotherapists
- Exercise physiologists
- Osteopaths
- Chiropractors
- Orthotists
- Podiatrists
- Dieticians
- Musculoskeletal conditions are extremely prevalent in Australia, with one third of Australians suffering from either osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, osteoporosis or chronic back pain. These conditions become more common with ageing. These chronic pain disorders can significantly reduce a patient’s mobility, disabling them from carrying out their everyday activities or participating in recreational activities. As the pain continues, individuals lose their fitness and become deconditioned which exacerbates their problem. Ultimately, these conditions can drastically reduce a patient’s quality of life. Allied health professionals are a core element of the patient’s multidisciplinary team. For complex cases, allied health professionals with advanced training can provide more specialised care and aim to:
- Rehabilitation care
- One in six Australian adults experience a stroke in their lifetime, which is the most common reason for a patient requiring rehabilitation care. Without an optimal rehabilitation program tailor to the individual patient, a stroke can have disastrous long-term consequences including reduced quality of life, increased morbidity and shortened lifespan. Allied health professionals are crucial in rehabilitation programs for stroke victim, with some having undertaken advanced training to specialise in rehabilitation care. These professionals work to:
- Restore the patient’s baseline level of function
- Improve the patient’s quality of life
- Reduce the level of ongoing health and community support required
- Allied health professionals that are involved in rehabilitation often include:
- Physiotherapists
- Speech pathologists
- Occupational therapists
- Dieticians
- One in six Australian adults experience a stroke in their lifetime, which is the most common reason for a patient requiring rehabilitation care. Without an optimal rehabilitation program tailor to the individual patient, a stroke can have disastrous long-term consequences including reduced quality of life, increased morbidity and shortened lifespan. Allied health professionals are crucial in rehabilitation programs for stroke victim, with some having undertaken advanced training to specialise in rehabilitation care. These professionals work to:
What allied health services are available?
- Click on each service for a more detailed description of each allied health service
Services | Brief Description |
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Arts Therapy |
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Audiology |
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Chiropractic |
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Dietetics |
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Exercise Physiology |
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Genetic Counselling |
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Medical Radiations |
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Music Therapy |
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Occupational Therapy |
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Optometry |
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Orthoptic |
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Orthotics & |
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Osteopathy |
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Paramedic |
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Perfusion |
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Physiotherapy |
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Podiatry |
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Psychology |
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Rehabilitation Counselling |
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Social Work |
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Sonography |
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Speech Pathology |
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How do I access an allied health service?
There are different ways for you to access allied health services depending on your circumstances. Anyone can access allied health professionals as a private patient without a referral from their doctor. However, this will mean that you will have to pay the full financial cost of the service unless you have private health insurance where you may be able to make a rebate for part of the service. However, as allied health professionals play such a crucial role in so many lives, there are many different funding schemes set up within Australia that help to financially assist patients in accessing life-changing allied health services.
Medicare
- The federal government recognises the key role that allied health professionals can play in many patients lives. Therefore, there are various funding schemes that have been put in place throughout the years to help a range of patients such as those living with chronic diseases, children with autism, and those experiencing mental health.
- To access Medicare-funded allied health services, the first step is to make an appointment with your local GP. If you are suffering from an chronic disability or illness, mental ill-health, or any form of complex need, you have the right to ask your GP for help with accessing allied health.
- Your GP can prepare and coordinate a Chronic Disease Management (CDM) plan for you which can give you access to a range of allied health services. Through this service, your GP can write a referral for you to an allied health service that they believe will assist in treating and managing your chronic or complex medical needs.
- To be eligible for a CDM, you must have been diagnosed with a chronic or terminal medical condition by your GP. This includes, but is not limited to asthma, heart disease, diabetes, cancer, arthritis, stroke and mental ill-health.
My Aged Care
- For older Australians, the My Aged Care portal is the best place to find out if you are eligible to access funded allied health services. Whether you are an older Australian (over 65 years of age), or a family member or carer for an older Australian, the My Aged Care website provides detailed information about the type of care packages and funding assistance available. See APA’s My Aged Care document for more information.
Department of Veteran’s Affairs
- If you are an Australian war veteran, widower, or dependent of a veteran, the Department of Veteran’s Affairs provides a range of health and financial support depending on your circumstances.
- In terms of healthcare, the department provides three different healthcare cards, classified as Gold, White or Orange, to help cover healthcare costs of veterans and their families. See APA’s Healthcare for Veterans document for more information.
Private Health Insurance
- Private health insurance is a very important element of Australian healthcare as it ensures that our public healthcare system does not become overwhelmed due to a stretched capacity.
- The choice to firstly invest in private health insurance, the choice of the specific health insurance company, and the choice of the premium is all very taxing and complicated processes for many Australians. However, the benefit of investing in private health insurance is the ability for patients to access allied health services and be able to claim at least part of the costs through rebates. This is built into most insurance policies under the Extra covers section.
- It is advised all patients do some thorough research into a good number of private health insurer companies and look at the sorts of policies each company offers whilst keeping in mind the specific allied health services you want to be able to access with financial assistance. See APA’s Private Health Insurance document for more information.
Primary Health Networks
- Primary Health Networks (PHNs) are independent organisations funded by the Federal Government that have been established to help manage and coordinate primary healthcare services. There are 31 PHNs in Australia, all of which play an important role in tailoring primary care services to their specific community.
- PHNs work closely with allied health providers and have a particular focus on improving access and equity within the community for mental health services through the Access to Allied Psychological Services (ATAPS) program. This program allows patients access to a maximum of 12 ATAPS-funded mental health-related sessions per calendar year. Patients who are eligible are those who have limited access to these services due to their geographical isolation, inability to pay service fees, or at risk of homelessness.
Community Health Services
- There are many community health centres set up within each state and territory in Australia that provide university primary healthcare to the population, with a particular focus on targeting vulnerable population groups with specific services.
- These community health services receive funding from a range of sources to help deliver allied health services to patients who require financial assistance.
What are the costs of seeing an allied health professional?
- As you may expect, the costs of seeing an allied health professional range broadly depending on the specific service, the practitioner’s fees, the length of appointment as well as the amount of financial assistance available to you from the government.
- The Federal Government has put in place many different funding schemes to assist patients in accessing a range of services.
- If you have a GP Management Plan or Team Care Arrangement, you are eligible for a maximum of five allied health services per calendar year. It is at your GP’s discretion whether you should be referred to an allied health service, but remember you always should be playing an active role in your own healthcare and health decision-making with your GP.
- To receive Medicare-funded services, the allied health professional must be registered with Medicare Australia. Each different allied health service (e.g. audiology, dietetics, physiotherapy) has a specific Medicare item number that can be used by the provider during the payment process and the standard benefit for allied health services is 85%. This means that the Federal Government will reimburse you 85% of the service when which therefore means you only have to pay 15% of the service out-of-pocket.
- See below for each allied health service and their provider number. The fee for all these services is $64.80 but the Medicare rebate is 85% as stated above. This means the Federal Government pays $55.10 of the service and you only have to pay the remaining 15% which is $9.70. To claim these services, you must have attended the appointment with the allied health professional in a one-to-one setting (not a group session), which can be via Telehealth, and the appointment must be at least 20 minutes in duration.
Item No. | Service |
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10950 | Aboriginal Health Workers or Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Practitioners |
10952 | Audiologists |
10964 | Chiropractors |
10951 | Diabetes Educators |
10954 | Dieticians |
10953 | Exercise Physiologists |
10956 | Mental Health Workers |
10958 | Occupational Therapists |
10966 | Osteopaths |
10960 | Physiotherapists |
10962 | Podiatrists |
10968 | Psychologists |
10970 | Speech Pathologists |