Medical and allied health practices have a payments setup that's unlike almost any other industry. It's not just about taking a card at the end of an appointment — it's about claiming Medicare, processing private health fund rebates, handling gap payments, and doing all of it without holding up the next patient.
If you run a GP clinic, physio practice, dental surgery, psychology practice, chiropractic clinic, podiatry rooms, or an allied health centre, your eftpos for medical practice needs to do more than just swipe a card. Here's what to look for.
HICAPS Is the Starting Point
For most allied health practices, HICAPS is the workhorse. It's the specialist health payments network that lets a patient swipe their private health fund card, claim on the spot, and only pay the gap. Physio, dental, chiro, optical, podiatry, psychology, myotherapy, remedial massage — most private health extras claims go through HICAPS.
If your practice takes private health claims, your eftpos setup needs HICAPS (or the HICAPS Go app-based alternative). Without it, patients have to pay in full and claim back themselves — and that's a friction point that will cost you patients over time.
The wrinkle: HICAPS has historically been linked to specific terminals and providers. The landscape has broadened recently, with alternatives like Tyro Health emerging and multi-function terminals that handle both claiming and normal card processing. This matters when you're comparing eftpos deals — you can't just look at the card processing rate, because the health claiming functionality is often priced separately.
Medicare Easyclaim for GPs and Specialists
For GPs, specialists, and some allied health providers, Medicare Easyclaim is the equivalent — it lets the practice submit a Medicare claim at the point of sale, and the patient receives the rebate (or gap payment) to their bank account same-day. Most Easyclaim-enabled terminals also handle HICAPS and standard eftpos, which keeps the front desk streamlined.
If you're a bulk-billing GP, you may not need Easyclaim at all — the claim goes through your practice management software. But if you're mixed billing or fully private billing with Medicare rebates, it's essentially non-negotiable.
Practice Management Software Integration
Just like our guide on eftpos for hair salons highlights booking software integration, medical practices need their eftpos to talk to their practice management software. Best Practice, Medical Director, Genie, Zedmed, Cliniko, Halaxy, Nookal, PowerDiary — each has its own integration quirks.
Integrated eftpos means:
- Invoice amounts push from the practice software to the terminal automatically (no rekeying, no short-changing)
- Payments flow back into the patient record
- End-of-day reconciliation takes minutes, not hours
- Your receptionist isn't juggling three screens while a patient stands at the counter
Check compatibility before you sign an eftpos deal. Not every provider integrates with every practice management system — this is where a broker (hi) saves you from a painful migration later.
Patient Experience at the Counter
The handover at the end of an appointment is a high-stakes moment. The patient has just seen a clinician and they want to pay and leave. Anything that slows this down — terminal lag, failed claims, a receptionist typing things twice — makes the practice feel disorganised.
Modern smart terminals are significantly faster than the older HICAPS machines many practices still use. If your terminal takes 15 seconds to boot, or your claim submission hangs while the patient stares at you, you're overdue for an upgrade. Patients notice these things and talk about them in reviews.
Compliance and Security
Medical practices handle particularly sensitive information, and while eftpos itself is tightly regulated, there are a few health-specific considerations:
- PCI DSS compliance — all Australian merchants have to meet these card data security standards; your provider should handle the heavy lifting, but confirm it's not buried in the fine print as a monthly fee.
- Privacy Act alignment — the way claims and patient identifiers flow through the terminal should not be storing personal health information beyond what's needed.
- Audit and reporting — for reconciling claims against Medicare and private fund payments, you need detailed transaction reports, not just a daily total.
Telehealth, Remote, and Phone Payments
Since 2020, most health practices run some mix of in-clinic and telehealth appointments. Your payment setup needs to handle both. A good setup includes:
- In-clinic terminals with HICAPS and/or Easyclaim for face-to-face billing
- A virtual terminal or payment link for phone and telehealth billing
- Recurring billing or stored card capability for ongoing treatments (psychology sessions, physio packages)
If you're still taking card details over the phone and keying them into a standalone machine, that's both slow and a PCI compliance risk. A payment link sent by SMS is faster and safer.
Watch Out for These Common Issues
From the practices we've worked with, the most common problems we see are:
- Paying twice for the same functionality. Some practices have a legacy HICAPS terminal plus a separate eftpos machine plus a third system for invoices. Consolidating onto one integrated terminal is usually cheaper and faster.
- High "premium card" surcharges. Patients increasingly use Amex or premium credit cards, and the rate differential can be painful if your deal isn't structured well.
- Long lock-in contracts. Historically, HICAPS terminals came with 36–60 month contracts. With more providers entering the health space, you should be pushing for 24 months or month-to-month. See our contracts guide for the details.
- Hidden fees. Claim transaction fees, PCI fees, minimum monthly fees, statement fees — all covered in our hidden fees article.
Rewards for High-Volume Practices
Specialist practices, dental surgeries, and multi-practitioner clinics often process $100,000+ a month in card payments. That's a meaningful pool of Qantas Points or cashback — often enough to fund conference travel or a staff Christmas party. Most practices we meet have never been offered this. It's worth asking.
Our Honest Take for Healthcare Practices
Healthcare eftpos is more complicated than most industries because you're layering claiming functionality on top of standard card processing. The risk is paying too much for both, not just one.
At Eftpos Brokers, we compare 20+ providers including those with HICAPS and Easyclaim capability. We check your practice management software, your claim volumes, and your patient mix, then find the setup that fits — for free, with no obligation. If your current deal is fine, we'll tell you. If we can save you meaningful money, we'll show you how.
Ready to Review Your Practice's Setup?
Book a free chat. Fifteen minutes, no obligation — just a plain-English look at whether your practice is getting a fair deal on payments.
Book your free consultation here or call us free on 1800 595 340.