For medical practitioners
Your patient may have arrived with a document we prepared. This page sets out exactly what it is and what it is not, so you can decide how much weight to give it.
Nothing we produce is a medical opinion, and none of it is intended to lead you to a conclusion. We are not clinicians. If you read our document and disagree with it, you should say so, and we would rather you did.
What the document is
- Your patient's own words, organised. We ask them about function: how long activities take, how often, what assistance is needed, and what an ordinary day and a bad day look like. We then arrange those answers against the CRA's assessment categories.
- A review task rather than a reconstruction task. The intent is that you are reading a description and forming a view, rather than reconstructing a patient's daily life inside a short appointment.
- Assessed with treatment in place. We prompt patients to describe themselves as they are with their usual medication, therapy and devices, because that is how the CRA assesses.
What it is not
- Not a completed form. Part B is yours alone. The CRA states that applicants cannot complete Part B themselves and that an application where they have will not be processed.
- Not a diagnosis or an assessment. We do not examine, test, or form clinical views, and we do not tell patients whether they qualify.
- Not a determination of eligibility. That is the CRA's, based on what you certify.
Who may certify which impairments
Narrower than most patients assume. Only a medical doctor or nurse practitioner may certify all impairments.
| Practitioner | May certify |
|---|---|
| Medical doctor | All impairments |
| Nurse practitioner | All impairments |
| Optometrist | Vision |
| Audiologist | Hearing |
| Occupational therapist | Walking, feeding, dressing |
| Physiotherapist | Walking |
| Psychologist | Mental functions |
| Speech-language pathologist | Speaking |
Your fee
You may charge for completing the application or for providing information. That fee is yours and is separate from ours. The CRA indicates your patient may be able to claim it as a medical expense on line 33099 or 33199.
The digital route
Your patient completes Part A and receives a reference number, which they give to you. You complete Part B and the form submits automatically. Part A and Part B must use the same method: the CRA cannot process an application where the whole thing is not in the same format.
If your patient has not yet been to see you, they can work through our free self-check and bring you the result. It runs in their browser, we never see it unless they choose to send it, and it costs them nothing.
DTC Prep is an independent private service, not affiliated with the CRA. Nothing on this page is legal, medical, or tax advice.