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The Mental Health Nurse Incentive Program

 

Frequently asked questions.

 

1.    Question: Can a Division of General Practice engage a mental health nurse and place the nurse in a psychiatrist’s practice?

Answer:  Yes, a nurse employed by a division can be placed in a general practice or a psychiatrist’s practice or a combination of such practices

2.    Question: What is the rate of pay that the nurse should be offered by the employer organisation?

Answer:  The Australian Government Department of Health and Ageing has not mandated a set salary for mental health nurses under this program. The AGPN advises that nurses should be employed at a rate equivalent to a clinical nurse specialist (NSW).  The award rate varies between states and territories.  The Australian College of Mental Health Nurses should be able to help with guidance on this matter.  www.acmhn.org ph 1300 667 079

3.    Question: The payment process for this incentive is a quarterly retrospective payment, which means divisions will need to draw from core funding to employ nurses under this incentive.  This is neither legal nor efficient.  Is there any other payment process being considered?

Answer:   Participating organisations are now able to apply for establishment funding under this Program of up to $10,000 (GST free). Establishment payments will be triggered by evidence of engagement of a mental health nurse and are available to an organisation once only, irrespective of the number of nurses engaged.  Organisations that have already registered under the Program are also eligible for the establishment payment.  Payment amounts will be tied to the number of sessions being undertaken by the nurse.  Organisations that engage a mental health nurse five or more sessions a week qualify for a $10,000 establishment payment.  Organisations that engage a mental health nurse for less than five sessions qualify for a $5,000 payment.
The payment will be made to the entity that registered to be part of the Program.  For example, a Division of General Practice might engage the nurse for use by local general practices.  In this scenario, the Division of General Practice would incur the establishment costs of engaging the nurse and therefore qualify for the establishment payment.

4.    Question: The particular client group are considered high risk ‘no shows’ for appointments.  What will happen if a division or employer organisation does not meet the quota of client services over a three month reporting period?

Answer:  Organisations must meet the minimum quota of clients’ services to be eligible for payments under this initiative See question 6 for more information re what constitutes a service.

5.    Question: As in question (4) has consideration been given to a nurse taking annual leave and/or sick leave in a reporting period and its likely effect on the number of services being provided in a reporting period?

Answer:  Funding for mental health nurse leave and backfilling arrangements has been included in the sessional payments.

6.    Question:  Can a phone call to a patient be counted as a service provided?

Answer: Services to patients under this initiative may include face to face consultations (including home visits), phone consultations, case conferencing and services on behalf of patients as per the Program Guidelines, for example service coordination and report writing

7.    Question: Will DoHA be providing any guidelines or protocols for nurses under this incentive conducting home visits

Answer:  It is the responsibility of the employing organisation to develop home visiting protocols for their staff members.  It is expected that with the patients receiving services under this incentive will be engaged with the nurse over a long period of time, up to 2 years, giving opportunity for the nurse and organisation to be able to better judge the risk management involved in home visiting.

8.    Question: Are patients living in privately run nursing homes or supported residential facilities considered ‘living in the community’ for this incentive.

Answer: Residents of nursing homes and supported residential facilities are eligible for services under this program.

9.    Question: Can a division employing a nurse, charge practices a small brokering fee for the services of that nurse

Answer: Such an arrangement would be entirely between the funded organisation and the practice and quite within the boundaries of the Incentive.

10. Question: What data needs to be collected by the mental health nurse    and is there a template or form that needs to be completed for Medicare? 

Answer:  Once the organisation has had their application approved Medicare Australia will send the organisation the reporting and data collecting requirements

11. Question: Is start up funding available for organizations engaging a mental health nurse under the incentive?

Answer: Yes. See question 3.

12. Question: In regard to start up funding, what are the implications for divisions that engage a nurse, but fail to retain them?

Answer: Money will be recovered if from organizations who fail to retain the mental health nurse, if the nurse is engage for less than three of six months.

13. Question: Is rural loading contingent on the address of the general practice or the patients’ address?

Answer: Initially the loading relates to the address of the practice. However if a practice is in an area that does not receive the loading they may appeal if 80% of the patients receiving a service under the incentive live in the very remote, remote and outer regional areas as per the AGCS (Australian Standard Geographic Classification)