The Australian government has released its response to the Independent Review of Health Providers’ Access to Medicare Card Numbers ("Review"). The Review was commissioned following media reports that Medicare card numbers were available for sale on the ‘dark web’. These reports were referred to the Australian Federal Police, and its investigation is ongoing.
The Review recommended several changes and improvements to existing Health Professional Online Services access controls, including transitioning healthcare providers away from the Public Key Infrastructure certificates which enable access to Department of Human Services systems to the more modern and secure Provider Digital Access authentication; suspending inactive accounts to prevent inappropriate use; and introducing time limits for delegate arrangements.
The Government has agreed without qualification to thirteen recommendations and agreeing in-principle to the remaining recommendation. Overall, the Government will fully implement seven of the recommendations by 30 June 2018, with a further four to be fully implemented by 31 December 2018 and one by mid-2019. The remaining two require no changes to current practice.
Find out more about the Government's response to the Report here.