Sometimes an incorrect surname or date of birth can be sent in a patient verification, and an error is not picked up. The reason for this is the method that Medicare uses for the verification. This is how Medicare technical support describes the process ...

 

There a three primary fields that need to be correct for an OPV check, these are: First name (first 5 characters) , Medicare card number and patient reference number. If all three of these are correct the patient will pass verification, if one of these are incorrect it will move onto the secondary fields for an OPV check, these are: Surname and DOB. So in relation to your question it is possible to submit an incorrect DOB and still pass verification though Medicare Australia will only return correct Medicare details if one validation field is incorrect, if more than one is incorrect a 9650 is returned advising the client to contact Medicare Australia to confirm patient details.