A Minor ID tells Medicare which clinic location a request comes from. Your software provider issues it, one for each location.
A Minor ID identifies one clinic location to Medicare, and the software that location uses. Your software provider issues it, and the software sends it with each request for that location. Services Australia describes it as unique to a location, and also calls it a Software ID or a Location ID.
| What it identifies | One physical clinic location, and the software it uses |
|---|---|
| Issued by | Your software provider |
| How many | One for each location. An organisation with 3 sites has 3 Minor IDs. |
| Registered with | Services Australia, on the HW027 form, when the location claims online or uses the AIR |
| Also called | Location ID, Software ID or Minor Customer ID |
Every clinic location that reaches Medicare through software has a Minor ID, because the software sends it with each request. Whether you also register it with Services Australia depends on what the location does.
Claiming online. Each practitioner who claims from the location completes the HW027 form with its Minor ID. That covers Medicare and DVA claims, and in-patient claims through ECLIPSE.
The AIR. Each vaccination provider at the location completes the HW027 too, even when the clinic does not claim. The form says the Minor ID must be on the provider’s record before the software can send anything to the AIR.
Checks only. With RebateRight, patient verification, eligibility checks, MBS lookups and benefit calculations need nothing registered. They work as soon as you connect.
Your software provider issues a Minor ID for each location. If you do not know yours, Services Australia’s advice is to ask your software provider. Your software provider also tells you whether you need to register your organisation in PRODA and link it to Medicare’s claiming services, which uses the Minor ID.
The HW027, the Online Claiming Provider Agreement, links a practitioner to the location’s Minor ID. Each practitioner completes one for each location they work from, with the Minor ID in its location identifier question. A practitioner who is paid for bulk bill or DVA claims also gives bank details on it.
Follow the return instructions on the form, by email or by post. Processing takes about 5 business days. Services Australia does not always send a notice when it is done, so to confirm, call Medicare eBusiness on 1800 700 199.
A practitioner who starts at the location later completes their own HW027 with the same Minor ID. A new location gets its own Minor ID, and its own forms.
RebateRight issues it. Your first Minor ID comes with your account when you sign up, beside your API Key. It is MDE and 5 digits, such as MDE12345. For each further location, email hello@rebateright.com.au and we issue one. If you are setting up several clinics at once, tell us, and we issue a set in advance for you to assign as each one opens.
No PRODA setup. RebateRight sets up the Minor ID with Services Australia on your behalf. If the clinic claims or uses the AIR, each practitioner completes the HW027, and we send you RebateRight’s PRODA Organisation Registration Authority (RA) number, which the form asks for.
In the web app and the browser extension. Save your Minor ID and API Key once in Connection Settings, and they are sent with every check. The browser extension uses the same Minor ID and API Key.
In your own software. Each request carries the clinic’s Minor ID in the x-minor-id header, in test and in production. A vendor serving many clinics uses one API Key for all of them, and the Minor ID of the clinic each request is for. The API docs give the details.
You get a new one. A Minor ID works only with the software that issued it. Your new software provider issues a Minor ID for each location, and each practitioner completes the HW027 again with it.
If you are moving to RebateRight, you may also run both products side by side for a while. Each practitioner gets a second provider number at the same location and links it to the RebateRight Minor ID, while the current provider number keeps claiming through the current software. Email hello@rebateright.com.au with how you plan to move, and we help you through each form.
A Minor ID identifies one clinic location to Medicare. Your software provider issues it, it is unique to the location, and the software sends it with each request for that location. It is also called a Location ID or a Software ID.
No. A provider number belongs to a practitioner at a location. The Minor ID belongs to the location and the software it uses. The HW027 form links each practitioner’s provider number to the location’s Minor ID.
No. Your software provider issues it. If you do not know your Minor ID, ask your software provider.
One for each physical location. An organisation with 3 sites has 3 Minor IDs.
Yes. A Minor ID works only with the software that issued it, so your new software provider issues a new one, and each practitioner completes the HW027 form again with it.
No. Patient verification, eligibility checks, MBS lookups and benefit calculations work as soon as you connect. You register the Minor ID with the HW027 form only if the clinic claims or uses the AIR.
Tell us about your organisation, accept the agreement, and RebateRight sets up your API Key and Minor ID.