How does Osteopathy Australia benefit its members and the profession?

Information, Advice and Support

One of the huge benefits of being a member of Osteopathy Australia is the support and advice you can receive over the phone or through our website. After all, we are here to help you. Being an osteopath requires you to have good clinical knowledge, but it may not prepare you for all you need to know about national regulation, requirements of Commonwealth and State schemes, health fund rules and privacy requirements. The business of health care is increasingly complex, and a key role of Osteopathy Australia is to make your life a little easier.

Advocacy

The key role of a professional body is to provide services and advice to its members and represent the profession.

A strong Osteopathy Australia gives osteopathy a strong voice with government and others. Osteopathy Australia is the only national body in Australia that solely represents osteopaths. Our most important role is working with key stakeholders such as federal and state governments, major government departments, universities and the Osteopathy Board of Australia (OBA) to improve the profile of osteopaths and maintain their status with other health professions.

The advocacy we provide falls into two main groups: profession-wide and individual.

We represent the general interests of the profession to government, regulators, schemes, third-party funders and private health insurance funds in all states and territories. You can see the type of work we do in profession-wide advocacy on our dedicated ‘advocacy’ and ‘lobbying’ webpage at www.osteopathy.org.au/advocacy-and-lobbying

We also provide individual advocacy when appropriate. For example, we work with Medicare, the Department of Veteran’s Affairs (DVA) state and territory worker’s compensation schemes, motor accident schemes, the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS), aged care services and facilities, and other bodies to clarify if correct processes have been followed. We also work with individual members to appeal decisions and give personalised advice for practice risk management.

Telehealth

During COVID-19 we successfully advocated for interim telehealth privileges in osteopathy Medicare items, Department of Veteran’s affairs items, most worker’s compensation schemes, and many motor vehicle accident schemes. For the first time ever, this gave osteopaths the ability to get paid for consulting people over a device such as a computer, tablet or smart phone, instead of having an in-person consultation.

We also completed the first research on telehealth in osteopathy and its outcomes can provide information to the public and government on the benefits.

You might use telehealth when you start practice for private patients paying out of pocket or, circumstances depending, patients of third-party programs. Check with us before you use it in any third-party funding scheme for updated advice about its role and rebates that could apply

When using telehealth, osteopaths must apply the same duty of care principles as within an in-person consultation. For example, all AHPRA guidelines continue to apply as do state and/or territory guidelines, such as mandatory reporting of child abuse, neglect or harm.

We have a range of guidelines and resources to help you check if telehealth is appropriate for a patient, what to consider, and how to manage telehealth risks while giving quality clinical care and advice. Go to www.osteopathy.org.au/ article/telehealth-and-osteopathy

Advanced Practice Recognition

Full members of Osteopathy Australia can apply to become Advanced Practitioners, providing they meet certain eligibility requirements and conditions to show that they have expanded their scope of clinical practice to include skills and knowledge shared by other clinical health professionals. This allows them to become publicly titled and promoted as Advanced Practitioners.

Advanced Recognition application is possible via two pathways:

• Tertiary. This requires a further university qualification in a focus area.

• Vocational. This requires relevant work experience, professional development, professional references and reasoned case studies.

In the future, we hope to have extended pathways to help direct learning to develop career pathways.

Advanced Practitioner recognition is currently possible in the following areas: Sports Practice, Paediatrics, ExerciseBased Rehabilitation, Pain Management or Occupational Health (work injury prevention, management and rehabilitation).

The process involves a review of clinical knowledge by medical practitioners/medical specialists, other allied health professionals and senior osteopaths, which gives Advanced Practitioner Recognition privileges high value within and beyond osteopathy, which can open new career opportunities and referral pathways. Advanced Practitioners work in their practices as well as other multidisciplinary health care settings.

Current students can learn more about becoming an Advanced Practitioner at www.osteopathy.org.au/osteo-careers/ professional-development. Full members of Osteopathy Australia can obtain access to an exclusive application page at www.osteopathy.org.au/article/advanced-practice to view the application process and forms.

To find out more about becoming an Advanced Practitioner, email clinicalpolicy@osteopathy.org.au or telephone (02) 9410 0099.

HR Service

An integrated workplace advisory service for all practising members only. This includes:

• A dedicated HR hotline for employees, contractors or business owners

• Speak to qualified workplace relations advisers to discuss issues and seek advice

• A comprehensive online library of technical resources

• Information-packed articles in Osteo Life and continuing education presentations on workplace relations matters

Visit www.osteopathy.org.au/article/hr-hotline on the website for further information.