Web services is a technology that is available over the internet. It enables communication between 2 devices on a network so they can:
talk to each other securely
share data and services.
Changes from 31 March 2023
From 31 March 2023 adaptor technology can no longer be used for:
Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) Online
Medicare Online (MCOL), including Department of Veterans Affairs (DVA) and the Australian Immunisation Register (AIR)
Electronic Claim Lodgement and Information Processing Service Environment (ECLIPSE).
Upgraded web services and Provider Digital Access (PRODA) compatible software is needed to submit claims and data using these channels.
If your software isn’t upgraded, you can only use Health Professional Online Services (HPOS) for MCOL, DVA and the AIR.
Contact your software developer or eBusiness Service Centre on 1800 700 199 for more information.
Why we’ve moved to web services
Our digital health and aged care channels previously used adaptor technology. Updating to web services ensures that we’re providing digital claiming and data channels that:
are secure and stable, now and in the future
meet current technology standards
are easier to update and improve.
Benefits of web services
There are several benefits to moving to web services:
It’s flexible and easier to update and maintain than adaptor technology. This means it’s easy to use across multiple operating systems, such as Windows and Mac OS.
It allows for future enhancements to be made. This improves functionality across some digital health and aged care channels.
This is the digital claiming channel used to submit claims and data to us. It’s integrated within practice management software. It includes DVA claiming and functionality to transmit data to the AIR.
This is an extension of Medicare Online. It provides a secure connection for in hospital claiming between:
health care providers
day hospitals
public and private hospitals
private health insurers
the Department of Veterans’ Affairs.
Medicare Online also offers direct communication between health care providers, private health insurers and us in the one transaction.
This is the channel used to submit PBS claims and data to us.
Provider Digital Access (PRODA) is an online verification and authentication system. It verifies an individual’s identity and an organisation against information on the Australian Business Register.
We collect and handle the private health information of the Australian public through our digital claiming and data channels. We take this responsibility seriously.
This change represents our commitment to maintaining the trust and confidence of our customers when handling their private information.
Web services uses PRODA to authenticate and identify users and organisations. Once you upgrade to web services, you need to use PRODA to authenticate.
PRODA is used to securely access the following channels for web services:
Medicare Online
Department of Veterans’ Affairs (DVA) via Medicare Online
Australian Immunisation Register (AIR) via Medicare Online
Electronic Claim Lodgement and Information Processing Service Environment (ECLIPSE)
Pharmaceutical Benefit Scheme (PBS) Online
Aged Care web services.
There are several benefits to using Provider Digital Access (PRODA) to authenticate and identify users.
It provides a higher level of security than the current Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) technology.
It’s fully digital and portable across web-enabled devices.
It doesn’t need additional hardware or software installed, unlike the current PKI technology.
Your individual PRODA account doesn’t expire. If you change your employer you keep the same PRODA account because it belongs to you as an individual.
This information was printed 16 April 2025 from https://www.servicesaustralia.gov.au/web-services-for-digital-health-channels. It may not include all of the relevant information on this topic. Please consider any relevant site notices at https://www.servicesaustralia.gov.au/site-notices when using this material.