• AARPN remains steadfast in our vision of setting a standard of excellence for our profession – and that includes upholding the standards of The Certified Practicing Nutritionists (CPN) program. 
• Certification programs are only as strong as the standards that underpin them – to this end, AARPN is unwavering in our high standards.
• The practical requirements for onboarding with AARPN (i.e. the provision of photographic evidences etc.) is industry standard procedure: the non-requirement for upfront provision of photographic evidence is non-standard and deviates from industry-wide norms.

Why does AARPN require every practitioner member to be linked to a ‘physically located base of operation’? 

• Every member who joins AARPN is technically qualified to conduct face-to-face consultations. 
• Therefore – irrespective of a practitioner’s predominant mode of clinical operation – we require every practitioner to adhere to base-level compliance for engaging a member of the public, face-to-face.
• This ‘physically located base of operation‘ will either be (1) a compliant externally located clinic, or (2) a compliant home-based set-up.

But why do I need a ‘physically-located-base-of-operation’ if I predominantly do Telehealth?

• The answer to this is very simple: rebate benefits for Telehealth come downstream from members being on lists that require an address.
• Therefore – because the majority of health-fund provider-lists cater exclusively for practitioners with a physically-located-base-of-operation – access to rebates of any kind are derived downstream from that starting point.
• We understand Telethealth is growing in popularity – and it is because of this very reason that AARPN is ensuring all members are implicitly set-up to take full advantage of expanded recognitions, whilst also appropriately maintaining a level of public-engagement-compliance that is congruent with their training and the broader standards of their profession.
• Broader industry does not view Telehealth to exist in a vacuum (i.e., as a standalone function, independent of broader compliance requirements), and AARPN’s standards have been constructed to reflect this reality.    

What does ‘base-level compliance‘ for face-to-face engagement of the public require?

• These requirements are relatively straightforward: (1) display of the Health Complaints Commissioner (HCC) consumer resource poster within the consultation environment, (2) display of hand-washing guidelines within a hand-washing basin area, (3) a clean toilet facility, and (4) a client waiting area, unless client bookings are purposely staggered to avoid client overlap.
• In addition to the above – the fundamental tenets of any consultation experience are also required – those being privacy and basic cleanliness.
• For home-setups: privacy either entails (1) consultations occurring in an enclosed room (i.e. a home office), or (2) having the ability to make the home environment exclusive to just the client and practitioner (i.e. a front living-room area, set-up for consultation with table and chairs).  

If my physically-located-base-of-operation is linked to my family home address, do I need to be concerned about spot-inspections?

• Put simply, the answer is – no. AARPN holds no policy for conducting unannounced inspections of a premises.
• And further to that point; our requirements for photographic evidence – of base-level compliance factors – negates the need for audit inspection of these factors.

What other types of audit might I be subject to?

• Private Health funds reserve the right to audit practitioner records for any clients that has rebated with their fund – and this is the same, irrespective of what association you belong to. 
• Under provider agreements with private health insurance funds, AARPN is required to audit 7% of its membership every year, and this is the same requirement placed on all associations who have provider agreements – this is a compliance audit of your records only, in terms of record keeping, receipting and invoicing, and standard of case notes.