Access NCSR

For healthcare providers who belong to a group that has the NCSR Integration system right enabled and who have a valid provider number, or who are delegates of the healthcare provider, a count of current alerts for patients matched in the NCSR database is displayed in the matching patient's clinical record in Communicare.

The following clinicians can access the NCSR:

Healthcare professionals with a Medicare provider number
Nurses and medical practice or lab staff without a Medicare provider number acting as a delegate of a healthcare provider with a Medicare provider number
Providers with a Register Identifier Number – a unique number used to authenticate cervical screening test providers not eligible for a Medicare provider number

Communicare users who belong to a user group with the NCSR Integration system right enabled, but who don't have a provider number and are not delegates of the healthcare provider, see an error message similar to the following when they attempt to access the NCSR:

You cannot access NCSR because you don't have a Medicare provider number
 and no default provider has been specified for the encounter site

Patient banner

In Communicare V21.2 and later, alerts from the NCSR are displayed in the patient banner. For example:
Example patient banner with NCSR count

Table 1. NCSR alerts in patient banner
Banner display	Description
	No match for this patient was found in the NCSR database. Important: If a patient cannot be matched but should be, check the NCSR Healthcare Provider Portal for any alerts. Do not assume that if no alerts are displayed in Communicare, the patient does not have any alerts from NCSR.
	The patient record was matched to a record in the NCSR database, but there are no alerts to display for this patient.
	The patient record was matched to a record in the NCSR database, and there are alerts to review for this patient.
	The user belongs to a user group with the `NCSR Integration` system right enabled, but doesn't have a Medicare provider number and is not a delegate of the healthcare provider. Hover over the icon to display details of the error.

Viewing patient information in NCSR

If you belong to a user group that has the NCSR Integration system right enabled, you can view a patient's NCSR record if the patient is matched in the NCSR database.

Important: If a patient cannot be matched but should be, check the NCSR Healthcare Provider Portal for any alerts. Do not assume that if no alerts are displayed in Communicare, the patient does not have any alerts from NCSR.

To display a patient's NCSR record, in the clinical record, either:

In the patient banner, click NCSR
In the toolbar, select Go To > NCSR Hub

Downloading information from NCSR

To download a patient's record from the NCSR, click Download.

All files downloaded on a given day are saved to your Downloads folder with the same name, for example, exportDataFri Jul 16 2021.pdf.

Tip: The next download from the NCSR on the same day will overwrite the previous download. If you want to keep the download, save it with the date and the patient's name to your server or upload it to Communicare.

Matching patients

Not all patients will have information in the NCSR database. Only those people in Australia participating in cervical and bowel screening are included.

Communicare provides the following data to the NCSR so that patients can be matched:

Name
Sex
Date of birth
Medicare number
IHI number
DVA number

If a patient does not have an identifying number such as a Medicare number, they are unlikely to be matched.