Map the main funding streams in New Zealand health practice and explain why every claim to ACC, Health NZ or an insurer is a representation that the practitioner is accountable for.
Distinguish error, poor systems, recklessness and dishonesty in financial matters, using ACC's definitions of fraud, waste and abuse and the Tribunal's approach under s 100 of the HPCA Act.
Lodge ACC claims, certify incapacity and invoice ACC accurately, including time-based billing, co-payments, missed appointments and the limits on treating family and colleagues.
Apply the enrolment, capitation and audit provisions of Health NZ agreements, and the claiming rules for maternity modules and contracted programmes such as acute care funding.
Use Special Authority, prescription endorsements and community pharmacy claims honestly, recognising that each is a declaration that funding criteria are met.
Identify and manage financial conflicts of interest, including ownership of facilities you refer to, product sales and industry payments, using the Medical Council statement Doctors and health-related commercial organisations and the equivalent standards of other authorities.
Give patients honest cost information under Right 6 of the Code of Rights, manage changes in cost during treatment, and avoid financial exploitation under Right 2.
Handle employer resources, patients' money, timesheets, locum invoices and personal financial obligations with integrity, including honest APC declarations.
Build practice systems (delegated billing, software defaults, self-audit and reconciliation) that prevent and detect claiming errors, and correct and repay errors promptly.
Explain how ACC, Health NZ, the police, HDC, responsible authorities and the Tribunal respond to financial concerns, and show insight and remediation if a concern is raised about you.
Who this course is for
Doctors, nurses, nurse practitioners, midwives, pharmacists, dental practitioners, physiotherapists, chiropractors, osteopaths, podiatrists and other practitioners registered under the HPCA Act 2003, plus practice owners, managers and clinical leaders responsible for claiming and fees.
Structured learning and a written reflection to show insight after a complaint, an investigation or a responsible authority inquiry.
Routine CPD
Focused learning on a core standard of practice, with a certificate and reflection for your portfolio.
About this course
This course is about the money that moves through everyday practice in New Zealand and the professional duties that come with it. It follows each funding stream a practitioner is likely to touch: ACC lodgement, certification and invoicing under the Cost of Treatment Regulations and ACC contracts; capitation, enrolment and contracted programme funding from Health New Zealand | Te Whatu Ora; maternity module claims; community pharmacy claiming and the Pharmac Pharmaceutical Schedule, including Special Authority and prescription endorsements; private fees, quotes and insurer claims; and the commercial interests that can sit behind a referral or a product recommendation.
It is written for doctors, nurses, nurse practitioners, midwives, pharmacists, dental practitioners, physiotherapists, chiropractors, osteopaths, podiatrists and other practitioners registered under the Health Practitioners Competence Assurance Act 2003, and for practice owners, managers and clinical leaders who design billing and claiming systems. It goes deeper than a general probity course: instead of restating that honesty matters, it teaches the claiming rules, the audit and recovery tools that funders actually use, and the systems that keep a practice's claims, fees and interests defensible.
Financial concerns can reach a practitioner from several directions at once: an ACC integrity review, a Health NZ audit, a criminal prosecution for obtaining by deception or dishonestly using a document, a complaint to the Health and Disability Commissioner about costs, and a Professional Conduct Committee charge before the Health Practitioners Disciplinary Tribunal. The course uses published New Zealand Tribunal decisions about false ACC claims, diverted Health NZ funding, fees changed mid-treatment and undisclosed financial offending, alongside illustrative cases such as claims for treating family, to show how each system responds, and how a practitioner can find and fix problems early, repay honestly and demonstrate insight if a concern is raised.
Course details
Learning time
Approximately 3 hours (estimated learning time including knowledge checks, reflection and assessment)
Standards covered
HPCA Act 2003 (ss 100–101); Code of Health and Disability Services Consumers' Rights (Rights 2 and 6, clause 4); Accident Compensation (Liability to Pay or Contribute to Cost of Treatment) Regulations and ACC contracts such as the Allied Health Services contract; Health NZ PHO Services Agreement; Primary Maternity Services Notice 2021; Integrated Community Pharmacy Services Agreement; Pharmac Pharmaceutical Schedule (Special Authority and endorsements); MCNZ Doctors and health-related commercial organisations (2023) and Good medical practice; Nursing Council Code of Conduct; Midwifery Council Code of Conduct; Pharmacy Council Code of Ethics 2018; Dental Council Standards Framework; Crimes Act 1961 (obtaining by deception); Fair Trading Act 1986; Protected Disclosures (Protection of Whistleblowers) Act 2022
Format
Self-paced, gated lessons with knowledge checks, case studies and reflection
Assessment
20 scenario-based questions, 80% to pass (16 of 20)
Outcome
Certificate of completion and a written reflection for your CPD record
Alignment
Mapped to the honesty, integrity and conflict-of-interest standards of the Medical, Nursing, Midwifery, Dental and Pharmacy Councils and other HPCA Act authorities, the Code of Rights and the claiming obligations in ACC and Health NZ arrangements
1Following the money in New Zealand health practice3 lessons
Why financial integrity is a professional standard, not just an accounting task
The funding map: who pays for what
Error, waste, abuse and fraud: drawing the lines
2ACC: lodgement, certification and invoicing4 lessons
Lodging claims and certifying incapacity honestly
Invoicing ACC: the rules that trip up honest providers
Treating family, colleagues and yourself on ACC
When ACC asks questions
3Health NZ funding: capitation, maternity and contracted programmes3 lessons
Enrolment, capitation and the accuracy of the register
Maternity modules and other episode-based claims
Contracted programmes and the payment details problem
4Pharmac, prescriptions and pharmacy claiming3 lessons
Special Authority and endorsements: declarations with financial weight
Community pharmacy claiming
Prescribing, dispensing and commercial influence
5Ownership, self-referral and commercial interests3 lessons
The Medical Council statement on health-related commercial organisations
Commercial interests across the professions
Working in both public and private practice
6Fees, patients' money and personal financial conduct3 lessons
Honest fees and informed financial consent
Advertising prices, insurers and debt
Employer resources, patients' money and personal finances
7Systems, investigations and putting things right3 lessons
Building a practice that claims correctly
Finding a problem: correcting, repaying and speaking up
How the system responds, and how to show insight
8Conclusion and key points1 lesson
Conclusion and key points
9References and further reading1 lesson
References and further reading
10Your reflective account1 lesson
Your reflective account
Assessment and certificate
Final assessment
20scenario-based questions
Pass mark 80%: 16 correct out of 20
Knowledge checks in each section as you go
Tests whether you can apply the standards, not recall a page
Not passed yet? Review the sections and retake it
Certificate of completion
A certificate of completion for your learning portfolio.
Your name, the course title and the estimated learning time (record the time you actually spend)
Completion date and a unique certificate ID that can be verified
Ready to download as a PDF as soon as you complete the course
Fitness To Practice
Certificate of Completion
This certifies that
Your Name
has successfully completed
Financial Integrity in Practice
Completed12 Oct 2026
3hours (estimated)
Certificate IDFTS-7Q4K-2M9X
Continuing professional development record — New Zealand
Your reflective account
The course includes a structured reflective account template: guided prompts to record what you learned, how you will apply it and how the change will show in your practice. It gives you written evidence of insight after a concern, and a ready record for your CPD portfolio.
Write it in your own words and leave out anything that could identify a patient, a colleague or a case. If you have an open complaint or case, talk to your adviser before reflecting on it in writing.
Questions about this course
How is the financial integrity course different from the probity course?
Probity covers honesty across records, certificates, declarations and conflicts in general. This course goes deeper on money: the actual claiming rules for ACC, Health NZ and Pharmac-funded services, the audit and recovery tools funders use, and the practice systems that keep claims, fees and interests defensible.
Does the course explain ACC invoicing rules?
Yes. It covers lodging ACC claims, certifying incapacity and invoicing accurately, including time-based billing, co-payments, missed appointments and the limits on treating family and colleagues. It uses ACC's definitions of fraud, waste and abuse to separate error, poor systems, recklessness and dishonesty.
What should I do if I discover I have been claiming incorrectly?
The course shows how to correct and repay errors promptly, fix the system that caused them, such as delegated billing or software defaults, and document what you did. It also explains what ACC, Health NZ, Police, HDC, the councils and the HPDT each do when billing goes wrong. Take legal or indemnity advice for any live investigation.
Is the course useful for practice owners and managers?
Yes. It speaks to registered practitioners and equally to the owners, practice managers and clinical leads who set up billing and claiming, with sections on ownership of facilities you refer to, product sales, industry payments, patients' money and honest cost information under Right 6.
How this course was built
Official sources only
Every legal and regulatory point comes from primary sources: the HPCA Act 2003, the responsible authorities' standards and the Code of Health and Disability Services Consumers' Rights. Anything we cannot confirm is left out.
Original, edition by edition
Lessons, scenarios and assessment questions are written by us for each edition separately, then checked for accuracy, teaching quality and fair assessment before publication.
Reviewed when rules change
When a code, standard or law changes, the affected courses are reviewed and updated. Reported errors in legal or regulatory facts are corrected first.
Honesty in records, certificates, ACC invoicing, APC declarations and conflicts of interest, mapped to the HPCA Act and your responsible authority's code.
Accurate, honest and defensible notes: what a good entry contains, late entries and corrections, AI scribes, access requests and the 10-year retention rule.
