DVA Reports for Allied Health: What to Include Before You Draft
By The Kitt Team
Allied health clinicians treating DVA clients carry structured paperwork: a referral, a care plan, clinical notes, and an End of Cycle Report. DVA’s fixed template makes it one of the more predictable reports you write, provided the groundwork was laid at the start. The Workcover progress reports follow similar logic.
DVA’s Notes for Allied Health Providers governs these requirements. Check the current version before you begin.
What a DVA treatment cycle is
A DVA treatment cycle is a defined period of funded allied health treatment: 12 sessions or one year from the referral date, whichever comes first. The initial referral can come from the client’s usual GP, a medical specialist, or a health professional as part of a hospital discharge, but only the usual GP can refer for a further cycle. The treatment cycle arrangements started on 1 October 2019. Report writing, diagnostic procedures, and ordering aids or equipment do not count as sessions.
Clients who receive a Totally and Permanently Incapacitated (TPI) payment have physiotherapy and exercise physiology referrals valid for 12 months from referral, or indefinitely where the usual GP refers indefinitely for a chronic condition.
The Department of Veterans’ Affairs, Stats at a Glance for March 2026, shows there are 359,708 DVA clients and 303,027 DVA health cards on issue, made up of 107,143 Gold Cards and 195,884 White Cards.
Two documents, one cycle
The Patient Care Plan is a written document prepared after the client’s first consultation and updated for each new treatment cycle for the same condition. It captures the referrer’s details, the condition, the client’s goals and planned treatment, expected outcomes, objective assessment results, and the client’s agreement. DVA or the usual GP can request a copy and you must provide it within seven days.
The End of Cycle Report answers that plan. Goals are marked as not met, ongoing, or completely achieved. Outcome measures taken at the start are repeated at the end. A recommendation to the GP on further treatment.
A solid treatment plan at the first consultation makes the End of Cycle Report straightforward. Specificity at the start means a simple comparison at close.
What to have ready before you draft
| What the report asks for | Where it comes from | Have it ready |
|---|---|---|
| Client name and DVA file number | The client’s DVA Veteran Card | Copied exactly as it appears on the card |
| Card type (Gold Card or White Card) | The referral and the card | For White Card holders, the accepted conditions you are treating |
| Referring provider and date of referral | The referral (a D904 form or the referrer’s letterhead) | The referrer’s name and provider number, and the referral date for this cycle |
| Number and frequency of sessions | Your appointment record | The count of sessions in this cycle and how often you saw the client |
| Condition being managed | The referral and the care plan | Any related or new conditions managed during the cycle |
| Goals and progress | The care plan | Each goal, and whether it is not met, ongoing or completely achieved |
| Summary of treatment provided | Your clinical notes | The main treatment approaches used, in a few lines |
| Outcome measures | The care plan and your notes | Scores at initial assessment, at the start of this cycle and at the end, with dates, plus your interpretation |
| Recommendation to the GP | Your clinical judgement | Whether further management is needed, and the reasoning behind it |
The last row matters most. Only the usual GP can refer for another cycle, so the reasoning should be specific enough for them to act on. Everything above is assembly.
When the report is due, and who gets it
The report goes to the client’s usual GP, not to DVA. If the referral came from a medical specialist, a hospital discharge, or a GP who is not the usual GP, it also goes to that referrer.
The report is due when no further treatment is needed, after the 12th session, or one year from the referral date, whichever comes first. You can write it after the 8th session but only with agreement from you, the client, and the usual GP.
Use DVA’s mandatory template and complete every section. DVA’s fee schedules include an End of Cycle Report item (PH90 for physiotherapy, EP90 for exercise physiology), claimable once per cycle after submission to the usual GP. These items are not claimable for TPI Gold clients. Track session counts and the referral date. DVA does not fund services after a referral expires.
The Australian Physiotherapy Association’s 2025 Workforce Census found that 34 per cent of practice owners named regulatory and funding complexity a key business threat, up from 22 per cent.
Where reports usually come up short
Most shortfalls come down to four things: outcome measures not repeated at end of cycle, goals too broad to judge, GP recommendations without reasoning, and session counts not tracked. All four are fixed at the start, not the end. Your clinical documentation obligations extend beyond this report, but these four points are where DVA cycles come unstuck.
United States physicians spend about two hours on electronic health record and desk work for every one hour of direct clinical care, according to Sinsky and colleagues in the Annals of Internal Medicine, 2016 (category evidence from United States physicians).
Where kitt fits
kitt connects the two sides of a DVA cycle into one record. The plan goes out to your client through kitt Companion, and their adherence and pain come back to you between visits, so by the end of a cycle you are reporting on what happened between sessions, not only what you saw in the room.
Client Contextual Memory surfaces prior findings, progression and goals before each session. kitt drafts clinical notes, GP letters and treatment plans from your consultation, returning them structured and editable. Notes can be pushed to Cliniko or Nookal, optionally.
kitt drafts, you decide. Clinical reasoning and the GP recommendation stay with you. The End of Cycle Report still goes on DVA’s mandatory template, which you complete and send.
The Professional plan is $69 per clinician per month with Companion included. Try kitt free for a month, no card required.
Frequently asked questions
What is a DVA allied health report?
The DVA End of Cycle Report goes to the client’s usual GP on DVA’s required template. It covers goals and progress, treatment summary, outcome measures, and your recommendation.
How many sessions are in a DVA treatment cycle?
A treatment cycle covers 12 sessions or one year from the referral date, whichever comes first. You can complete the report after the 8th session but only with agreement from you, the client, and the usual GP.
Do I send the End of Cycle Report to DVA?
No. It goes to the client’s usual GP. If the referral came from a medical specialist, a hospital discharge, or a GP who is not the usual GP, send it to that referrer too.
What outcome measures should I include?
DVA asks for objective results from validated outcome measures, with scores at the initial assessment, start of cycle, and end of cycle, plus dates and interpretation. The choice of measure is yours, suited to the condition and consistent with your professional standards.
The takeaway
- The End of Cycle Report goes to the usual GP on DVA’s mandatory template, not to DVA.
- It answers the care plan from the first consultation.
- Repeat outcome measures at end of cycle so progress is objective and on record.
- Make your GP recommendation specific enough to act on.
Document the cycle as you go and the report is mostly assembly.