About Healthcare Services

The Healthcare Services team is dedicated to helping eligible members access a range of services to support their health and wellbeing*. We’re here to get you the help you need, when and where you need it, and in a form that’s right for you.

To fully understand your needs, we take the time to get to know you. Not just your medical condition and treatment plan, but what’s going on in your life, what challenges you may be facing and how you’re coping. Then we figure out if we can help you.

If we can – and you participate in a service or program we provide access to – we’ll cover the cost. This could be addressing your immediate situation, and/or helping you plan for a healthier future.

If we can’t help you directly, we’ll let you know who might be able to, so you can explore your options.

Eligibility for support services varies, but you’ll need to have Hospital cover and have served any relevant waiting periods. The Healthcare Services team can talk to you about any other eligibility criteria for a given service. 

We also have to:

• consider your health condition, your safety and what’s likely to work best for you personally
• work within government legislation to fund these services (through what’s called Broader Health Cover).

While we look after Nurses & Midwives Health members, we operate independently. So you can rest assured any conversations you have with us are confidential. If we do share information with Nurses & Midwives Health, it’s only to pay benefits or improve our services in line with our Privacy Policy.

Also know that working with us won’t affect the cost of your Nurses & Midwives Health cover. Government legislation (there’s a lot of it!) ensures that your premiums can’t go up because you’re making claims or have a health condition.

We’re proud to be accredited by The Australian Council on Healthcare Standards, which recognises our commitment to best practice and continuous improvement in the delivery of evidence-based care. This includes thoroughly vetting any external providers we may refer you to.

Read more about your rights and responsibilities as a participant in Healthcare Services programs.

While our primary goal is to support Nurses & Midwives Health members, our work also addresses some of the bigger issues in Australian healthcare.

Here are just three examples of problems the government has identified, our approach, and the potential benefits for you:

Problem: Lack of timely information sharing across the healthcare system.

What we do: Try to ensure the key people who are involved in your care know what’s happening to you (e.g. your GP is fully across your hospital treatment or the health program you’re enrolled in). That said, we’ll never share any information about you without your consent.

Benefits: Improved quality of care, fewer preventable hospital readmissions.

Problem: Just under half of Australians have one or more chronic diseases.

What we do: Provide access to programs to help you manage your condition(s). Osteoarthritis is one example – we help members access programs that support with weight loss, exercise and pain management, combined with education and monitoring to improve your symptoms.

Benefits: Better quality of life, delaying (or even avoiding) hospital treatment.

Problem: Health knowledge gaps in the community.

What we do: Give you the tools to become your own health advocate (e.g. information to help you prepare for hospital, learn more about your medication, or cope with a new baby).

Benefit: The confidence to be a proactive participant in your own healthcare. To ask your healthcare providers the right questions, to be heard, and to be involved in the decision-making.

*To be eligible for a program you must be a member of Nurses & Midwives Health and have Hospital cover with all relevant waiting periods served. Hospital cover requirements and waiting periods vary for different programs. Additional eligibility criteria may apply.

These programs are brought to members through Teachers Healthcare Services ('Healthcare Services'), an initiative of Teachers Health, to support members' health and wellbeing through quality, evidence-based health management. Eligible members are connected with a dedicated Healthcare Services care coordinator who supports them along the way.