Setting up a private surgical practice.
Going private hands a surgeon a second, unpaid job: provider numbers, claiming, credentialing, billing, referrers and a back office to run it all. Here's the groundwork — and how to start without it consuming the time you'd rather spend operating.
- 1
Medicare provider numbers & registrations
You'll need a Medicare provider number for each location you bill from, plus registration with DVA and the private health funds. Lead times can stall your first claims, so start this early — before your first list is booked, not after.
- 2
PRODA & HPOS access
Provider Digital Access (PRODA) verifies your identity; HPOS is the portal you reach through it to apply for provider numbers and authorise delegates. Set up correctly, it lets your practice — or a billing partner — lodge Medicare claims through the proper channel. Our provider number & PRODA setup guide walks through the order.
- 3
Hospital credentialing & theatre access
Each hospital has its own credentialing and scope-of-practice process, backed by evidence of your qualifications and insurance. Alongside it sit theatre list bookings and the working relationships with bookings staff, anaesthetists and assistants that keep a list running. Timelines vary by site, so run these in parallel.
- 4
Billing & accounts
Practice-management software, Informed Financial Consent, in-hospital ECLIPSE claiming, and a reliable process for rejections and receivables — all before the claims start flowing. If billing is the part you'd rather never touch, that's our medical billing service.
- 5
Patients, referrers & marketing
Referral intake and tracking, patient communication from first consult to recovery, and AHPRA-compliant marketing that builds your referrer base without breaching the advertising rules for regulated health services.
- 6
The back office to run it
Reception, scheduling, inbox and document management — the day-to-day that turns a provider number into a working practice, and the first thing to fall over when a surgeon tries to run it between lists.
Start early, scale as your list builds
You don't need a full practice on day one. SSPM starts with you while your list is still building and grows into a complete back office as your books fill — billing, theatre coordination, patient communication and compliant marketing under one accountable team. You operate; we run the rest.
Planning your move to private practice?
A short discovery call is the best place to map what you'll need and when.
Book a discovery call