Therapy House

NDIS Clients

NDIS clients require a different planning approach as they are not coming for 'treatment', they are coming for intervention and supports for a permanent disability.

NDIS clients require a different planning approach as they are not coming for 'treatment', they are coming for intervention and supports for a permanent disability. Services provided therefore need to directly relate to the participants goals, and still align with evidence-based-practice. You can read about the purpose and details of NDIS services in the example Service Agreements in NDIS resource folder at the bottom of this page.

You may also like to browse the NDIS Website if you want to orientate yourself to your responsibilities as a practitioner.

NDIS Documentation - Clinician to Action Service Agreement

SERVICE AGREEMENTS

Service agreements are now completed for all our NDIS clients to support with shared understanding and consent regarding the goals and limitations of services between the clinician and their client/s.

Sending a service agreement to a new client (or existing)

We recommend sending a new client the service agreement after you have completed your intake session with them. This prevents the client from filling and signing the agreement before they decide if the clinician is the right fit, and also allows the client an idea of preferred session frequency that they can add into the form.

To send the agreement:

  1. Go into your clients Powerdiary Profile
  2. Click Communication > New Email
  3. Choose either the 'NDIS Self Managed Service Agreement' or NDIS Plan Managed Service Agreement' from the template drop down and edit any information you feel necessary
  4. Click Save and Send

You will be notified by email when the client has completed the form, however during your next session, you can check by:

  1. Go into your clients Powerdiary profile
  2. Click Records > Forms
  3. You should now see whether the client has completed the form. If they have not yet completed it or had questions before submitting, complete this during the session so the record is saved and has a completed date.

Assessments, Reports and Letters

Assessments will have to be considered by clients on a case by case basis, as some assessments are not typically covered by NDIS. You can encourage clients to check with their NDIS coordinators, or consider with the client whether the assessment is reasonable and necessary to achieve the goals of the participant. These discussions are important to happen before commencing formal assessments such as psychoeducational assessments which are time intensive.

NDIS reports and letters are billed pro rata of the clinicians time, however you will need to talk with your client about estimated time and purposes to ensure there is informed consent and no payment confusion. Many clients can find NDIS overwhelming, so it is important to gather information from clients about the purpose of requested documentation, ensuring that progress/review documents specifically link back to the clients goals.

Important Things To Know

  • We cannot provide an opinion about the likelihood of NDIS funding or application outcomes
  • Don’t comment on things outside of your scope – if it is related to an OT or Speech Therapist, ensure that the information or request comes from them
  • The NDIS will typically try to defer clients to Medicare if/where possible, thus wording is important to maintain the ‘developmental and lasting impacts of disability’ requirement is met (please see the NDIS folder in Sharepoint for further tips)
  • You can talk with clients about the requirements of the NDIS to view things from a deficit paradigm: the discussion will support you to reinforce your own clinical values and clarify why there may be a distinct change in language when you write NDIS documentation.

Note: See attachedTemplate for example NDIS report

Helpful Resources: NDIS Resource Folder