DVA ↔ Lookout: Cross-reference glossary
A guide for new users: understand Department of Veterans' Affairs (DVA) Community Nursing terminology and where it lives in Lookout.
How to use this guide
The DVA Community Nursing program is funded by the Department of Veterans' Affairs (DVA). It provides clinical and personal care in the home for eligible veterans, war widows and widowers, so they can stay independent and remain in their own homes for as long as possible. A General Practitioner or Specialist refers the client into community nursing, and providers claim payment for the care they deliver in 28-day claim periods.
The program has its own terms for referrals, eligibility, service delivery and claiming. This guide maps DVA terms to their matching terminology and functionality in Lookout, so you can quickly see where information is recorded, managed and actioned across the platform.
Terms are grouped by topic to give a structured overview of how DVA processes and requirements work in Lookout.
Visit our DVA series articles to build your knowledge of DVA in Lookout, including:
Client network: Veterans and their key contacts
| DVA term | What it means | Lookout equivalent | Where you'll find it in Lookout |
|---|---|---|---|
| DVA client / Entitled person | The veteran, war widow or widower receiving DVA-funded community nursing | Member | Each Member has a profile and a Membership record |
| Community nurse / Nursing support worker | The person delivering clinical or personal care in the home | Helper | Helper profile and details |
| Community nursing provider | The organisation contracted by DVA to deliver community nursing services | Your organisation (the provider) | Set up as the company; holds the DVA provider number |
| Referrer | The General Practitioner or Specialist who refers the client for community nursing | Referrer details on the DVA referral plan | The Member's DVA referral plans |
| Carer | The (often unpaid) family member or friend who supports the client | Roles (general) | Profiles and roles attached to the Member |
| Nominee / Person acting on the client's behalf | Someone who can act or manage on the client's behalf (e.g. a spouse or adult child) | Authorised Representative | Profiles; role attached to the Member |
| Nominated contact (information only) | Someone who receives information only | Sharer (view-only access) | Profiles; role attached to the Member |
Top tip: Make sure your DVA provider number is registered before you submit your first claim. Lookout support registers it for your organisation. Until that's done, you'll see a message on the DVA claims screen asking you to contact Lookout support, and claims can't be submitted.
-> Read our article on DVA: Member management to learn more about key contacts
The client record, eligibility and referrals
| DVA term | What it means | Lookout equivalent | Where you'll find it in Lookout |
|---|---|---|---|
| DVA client record | A client's eligibility, referral and status | Membership | Member dashboard; Membership record in Settings |
| DVA file number | The client's DVA reference number used on claims | Client file number | Member dashboard under Funder, on the DVA funding details |
| Client name and gender | The client's details as DVA holds them | Given name, Family name and Gender | On the DVA funding details; all three are required |
| Veteran Card (Gold Card / White Card) | The card confirming the client's eligibility and, for White Card holders, the conditions covered | White card holder and Condition details | On the DVA funding details; Condition details are required when White card holder is selected |
| DVA funding | How the client's care is funded and administered by DVA | Funder / Funding scheme (DVA) | Membership record in Settings, then Funding scheme; Member dashboard under Funder |
| Community nursing referral | The referral from a GP or Specialist that authorises community nursing for a set period | DVA referral plan | Member dashboard, DVA referral plans panel |
| Referrer provider number | The referring doctor's provider number | Provider number | On the Member's DVA referral plan; included on each claim line |
| Referral date | The date the referral was written | Referral date | On the Member's DVA referral plan |
| Referral period | The dates the referral covers | Period start date and Period end date | On the Member's DVA referral plan |
| Referral length (standard, non-standard or indefinite) | How long the referral lasts | Period type and Period length (in months) | On the Member's DVA referral plan; Period length is needed for non-standard referrals |
| Superseded referral | An older referral that's no longer used for claiming | Archived referral plan | DVA referral plans; archived plans are read-only |
| 28-day claim period | The block of care DVA pays for in each claim | DVA episode | Member dashboard under Funder (Current episode); select View all to see every episode, its visits and claim status |
| Referral renewal | Getting a new referral before the current one ends | DVA referral plans report | Reports; lists referral plans due to expire in a chosen period |
Top tip: Enter the referral exactly as the referrer issued it. Lookout uses the start date of the Member's earliest active referral plan to set the 28-day claim cycle. Changing that start date, or archiving the earliest plan, moves the cycle, so archive old referrals only when they're no longer used for claiming. If you're unsure, check with your Finance team first.
Please note: If a Member on an indefinite referral is on leave for 28 days or more, a warning appears on their dashboard. Their referral may need to be renewed.
Care planning and goals
| DVA term | What it means | Lookout equivalent | Where you'll find it in Lookout |
|---|---|---|---|
| Care plan / Nursing care plan | The record of the client's assessed needs and planned care | Care Plan | The Member's Care Plan |
| Goals | What the client wants to achieve (e.g. managing a wound or staying safely at home) | Goals | Within the Care Plan |
| Coordination of care | Arranging and managing the care in the client's plan | Care management activities | Member's record in Tickets, Activity and Notebook. Surveys and Forms can also be used. |
| Care review discussion | Conversations with the client or referrer to review or update care | Tickets and Discussions | Tickets and Ticket discussions |
Delivering and scheduling services
| DVA term | What it means | Lookout equivalent | Where you'll find it in Lookout |
|---|---|---|---|
| Community nursing visit | A booked instance of community nursing care | Visit | Rostering / the Member's Roster |
| Rostering a service | Assigning the right worker to a booking | Matching a Helper to a visit | Rostering |
| Care type (Clinical care, Personal care, Other care) | The kind of care delivered at a visit | Rate (DVA - Clinical care, DVA - Personal care, DVA - Other care) | Settings, then Rates; selected on each visit |
| Overnight care (active or inactive) | An overnight clinical or personal care shift | Rate (DVA - Overnight clinical care active or inactive, DVA - Overnight personal care active or inactive) | Settings, then Rates; selected on each visit |
| Delivery date and hours | When the care was delivered and for how long | Check in / Check out | Visit details; the number and length of completed visits feed straight into claiming |
| Progress note / Clinical note | The record made after delivering care | Check-out Note | Notes on a visit; feed into Observations and the Notebook |
| Worker screening / qualifications the provider must hold | Credentials confirming a worker's suitability | Verifications | Helper profile |
| The client's specific worker requirements | Credentials the client requires their workers to hold | Requisites | Set up in the Member Matching card; Lookout warns you if a Helper doesn't meet them |
Please note: Your visits become your claim. For each 28-day episode, Lookout counts the Member's completed visits and works out their average length to choose the right DVA item. If an episode has both clinical and personal care visits, the core and add-on items use whichever care type had more visits (a tie goes to clinical care). Choosing the correct DVA rate and recording accurate check-in and check-out times on every visit is what makes your claim correct.
Quality, safety and oversight
| DVA term | What it means | Lookout equivalent | Where you'll find it in Lookout |
|---|---|---|---|
| Client rights and responsibilities | The rights of DVA clients, including being treated with respect, courtesy and dignity | Care Plan and provider records | Supporting records held against the Member and in the Notebook |
| Reportable incident | An incident that must be reported | Observation | Observations (raised automatically from check-out notes or manually) |
| Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission |
The body overseeing quality and safety in aged care |
Incident reporting |
Incident records include a "reported to the Commission" date and a link to the relevant guidelines |
Claiming
| DVA term | What it means | Lookout equivalent | Where you'll find it in Lookout |
|---|---|---|---|
| DVA Schedule of Fees | The official item numbers and fees for community nursing | DVA fee schedule | Maintained by Lookout; the fees in effect at the start of each claim period are applied automatically |
| Item number | The code for the care being claimed (e.g. clinical, personal or overnight care) | Item number | Assigned automatically on the DVA claims export, based on the visits in each episode |
| Worker type (RN, EN, CNC, NSS) | The type of worker who delivered the care | Worker type | Included on each claim line; clinical care items are set to RN and personal care items to NSS automatically |
| Claim file | The list of items being claimed for each client's 28-day period | DVA claims export report | Reports; choose a week (Monday to Sunday) and the report includes every episode ending in that week. It's sent to your email. |
| Submitting a claim | Sending claims to DVA for payment, processed through Medicare | DVA claims import | Finance, then DVA; upload the claims file, then select Claim all |
| Claim status | Where each claim is up to in processing | Medicare status | On each DVA claims import (use Refresh Medicare status) and on the Member's DVA episodes |
| Rejected or failed claim | A claim that couldn't be processed | Failed claim | On the DVA claims import; use Retry failed, or Download failed claims, correct the file and upload it again |
| Claim payment | The amount DVA paid for the claim | Actual amount (incl. GST) | On the DVA claims import, next to the Expected amount |
| Provider number | The provider's identifier included on each claim | Provider number | Held against your organisation; registered by Lookout support |
| Manual claim | A claim prepared without using visits | Blank DVA claims template | Finance, then DVA, then Import claim |
| Statements / Invoices | Records of charges sent to the funder | Billing Recipient | Role attached to the Member; statements viewable in-app |
Please note: Other care visits don't automatically receive an item number. In the claims export they show a placeholder item with a $0 amount. Enter the correct item number and amount for these lines before you upload the file.