1. Halaxy Help Guide
  2. Finances
  3. Claims & Billing

Request assignment of benefit for Medicare bulk billing

Services Australia requires practitioners to obtain assignment of benefit approval from patients for bulk billed services.

In Halaxy, you can quickly request an assignment confirmation by sending the unpaid bulk bill invoice to your patient via SMS or email containing a payment link. When the patient clicks the link, they can review the invoice and confirm the assignment with just a click of a button.

This process is the same whether requesting Assignment of Benefit before (pre-assignment) or after (post-assignment) an appointment. You can send the invoice at any time, depending on when you would like the patient to complete the assignment.

Note

This feature is only available for unpaid bulk bill invoices. This means the invoice must be unprocessed and contain a Medicare fee, where the Rebate is the same value as the Amount.

From 1 July 2026, the option to send a request for pre-assignment of benefit will become available.

Request assignment of benefit

  1. Open the invoice.

  2. In the top right, click the Icon-Send.svg paper plane icon.

  3. In the pop-up:

    • Click the Email or SMS tab for how you want to send the payment link.

    • In the Message editor, enter your message to the patient and insert the [Payment Link] dynamic term. (Recommended: Add instructions for your patients on what they need to do.)

      Assign-Benefit-01.png

      Example of adding a payment link to an invoice email

  4. Click Send. Alternatively, for email, click the dropdown and select Schedule Send to send at a later time.

You have sent the patient a link to their invoice, where they can assign the bulk bill benefit to you.

Tip

Save time and use a communication template just for requesting assignment of benefit from patients. Instead of re-typing the message every time, you can just select the template in the Send Invoice pop-up.

Guide for patients

When the patient opens the payment link, they are taken to their invoice. To assign the benefit, they must follow these steps:

  1. In the invoice, click Assign Benefit.

    Assign-Benefit-02.png

  2. In the pop-up, confirm the assignor and select the patient name for signing. (If a parent or guardian is signing on behalf of the patient, they should select Other then enter their name.)

    Assign-Benefit-03.png

  3. Click Save.

After the patient confirms the benefit assignment, you receive a notification in Halaxy. When you process the bulk bill rebate, the assignment confirmation is automatically added to your claim.

Your patient's signed confirmation is also attached to your invoice as a PDF file.

Assign-Benefit-04.png

Schedule your requests for assignment

On top of the assignment fuctionality in Halaxy, starting 1 July 2026, you can further automate your bulk billing workflow by scheduling an automated email message for all unpaid bulk bill invoice.

  1. Click Settings > Payments.

  2. Under Rebate Processing section, next to the Group level, click the Icon-Edit.svg pencil icon. (To create settings for a specific location or individual practitioner, click Add New.)

    Assign-Benefit-16.png

  3. In the pop-up, under Assignment of Benedit Request, tick Enabled and configure the following:

    Assign-Benefit-17.png

    • Message type: Select how you want to deliver the request for assignment.

    • SMS/Email Schedule: Select when you want to automatically send the request for assignment.

    • Communication Template: Select the communication template you want to use to send for the request. (Important: Ensure you include the dynamic term [Payment Link].)

  4. Click Save.

An email requesting for an assignment of benefit will now automatically be sent to patients who have an unassigned bulk bill invoice according to your settings.

Updated

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