Wednesday, March 10, 2010

Mental Health

The program aims to support GPs to provide early intervention and optimal care and contribute to the achievement of best possible health outcomes for patients with mental health disorders. Working collaboratively with other mental health services where appropriate, the GP Network also assists to reduce the impact of mental disorder on individuals, families and communities.

Specifically it provides:

Support for General Practice in the assessment and ongoing care of patients with a chronic and severe mental illness.
Access to other services for the patients of GPs.
Support to increase accessibility to general practice for disadvantaged groups.
Referral support for disadvantaged groups.
Communication between other services & GPs, including mental health shared care.
Education, training and information for GPs and practice staff.

What’s On Offer?

GP resources
• Mental health care plan kit for referral to Medicare Allied Psychological Services through Better Access OR referral to ATAPS (brokerage to low cost psychology services).
• Service listings and flowcharts to assist referral to a range of services.
• Dissemination of evidence based, best practice information, updates and templates.
Practice visits
• Supporting uptake of mental health MBS items and developing/improving systems of assessment and referral, recall and reminders for patients.

Mental Health Nurse Services
• Psychiatric Nurses based within General Practices aimed to provide free support to GPs in their existing role of caring for patients with severe and chronic mental illness.
• Providing assessment and unlimited ongoing treatment, medication, compliance, linkages with other services.

Education and training for GPs
• Increasing mental health assessment/management skills or to maintain focused psychological strategy accreditation through Small Group Learning.
• Encouraging appropriately trained GPs to provide evidence based focused psychological strategies through the provision of Medicare Benefits Schedule rebates.
Access to Psychiatrist Support • Promoting advice from psychiatrists through the RACGP. Integration & advocacy • Representing the voice of General Practice on various steering committees, project working groups & networks. • Increase community & service staff understanding of initiatives and mental health. • Working with publicly funded health services to create mental health shared care with robust and reliable communication mechanisms.

FAQ on the new Mental Health MBS Item 2702 for GPs without Mental Health Skills Training

Mental Health Training Options