Better Outcomes in Mental Health Care Initiative

One in five Australians have a mental health problem, but less than 40% will seek help. Of those who do seek help 75 % will do so from their GP.

· 85% of the population sees a GP every year, and mental health is the second most common general practice co-morbidity.

· GPs provide more than 10 million mental health consultations per year and 3.4 million of these are for depression.


Background to Better Outcomes in mental health care initiative

Historically there have been barriers to delivery of quality mental health care in General Practice, for example inadequate mental health education and training and limited referral pathways. Through the Better Outcomes in mental Health care initiative these have begun to be addressed in a structured and systematic way. This program is funded through the Australian Government Department of Health and Ageing, and to date there has been an investment of $120.4 million in this highly successful initiative.

  • Education and training for GPs - to familiarise GPs with the initiative and to increase the mental health skills
  • The 3 Step Mental Health Process - a Service Incentive Payment (SIP) is provided to encourage effective management of mental health problems by GPs through a 3 Step Mental Health Process that includes an assessment, a mental health plan and a review
  • Focussed Psychological Strategies - to encourage appropriately trained GPs to provide evidence based focused psychological strategies (FPS) through the provision of Medicare Benefits Schedule (MBS) rebates
  • Access to Allied Psychological Services (ATAPS) - to enable GPs to access psychological and other allied health services to support their patients with mental health disorders
  • Access to Psychiatrist Support - to better enable psychiatrists and GPs to participate in case conferencing and for psychiatrists to provide emergency advice to support GPs.

Click here to view ATAPS 14th Interim Evaluation Report

Click here to view ATAPS 14th Interim Evaluation Report PND Supplement


Impact of Better Access on Better Outcomes

The Australian Government will continue to honour its commitment to supporting the key components of BOIMHC, including education and training for GPs, appropriate remuneration of GPs for delivery of Focussed Psychological Strategies, support from psychiatrists, and access to allied health services.

  • The increased range of referral pathways under Better Access complements the range of initiatives funded under the Better Outcomes in Mental Health Care Program (BOIMHC).
  • Divisions of General Practice will continue to operate their Access to Allied Psychological Services projects to 2008-09.
  • The Access to Allied Psychological Services (ATAPs) component will continue through Divisions of General Practice to offer an alternative referral pathway for GPs, and the GP Psych Support component will continue to provide advice to GPs on the management of patients.
  • Divisions of General Practice will continue to manage the ATAPs component of BOIMHC and this has been reflected in the recent renewal of funding agreements to June 2009. For information and support about evaluation and minimum data set go to http://boimhc.org
  • The 3 Step Mental Health Process items (or PIP incentive payment ‘trigger’ items) will run in parallel to the new GP Mental Health Care items from 1 November 2006 to 30 April 2007.
  • The 3 Step Mental Health Process incentive payment and associated MBS trigger items will be withdrawn from 1 May 2007.
  • Consultation will take place with professional groups and Divisions about adapting education, training and infrastructure associated with BOIMHC to support the Better Access initiative.
  • The new MBS items for clinical psychologists and other allied health professionals will be implemented in consultation with key stakeholders, including GP representative groups and the Australian Psychological Society, to ensure alignment with the BOIMHC program.
  • Access by appropriately trained GPs to MBS items for the delivery of Focussed Psychological Strategies will continue.
  • It is likely the introduction of the new MBS items for psychology and allied health services may, over the medium term, reduce demand for allied health services through ATAPS, although the impact is likely to vary from Division to Division.
  • The GP Psych Support Service will also continue to provide a network for GPs to seek patient management advice from a psychiatrist within 24 hours.

Click here for more information about the Better Access to Mental Health Care Initiative