Australian private practice metropolitan telepsychiatry during the COVID-19 pandemic: analysis of Quarter-2, 2020 usage of new MBS-telehealth item psychiatrist services.
Australas Psychiatry
; 29(2): 183-188, 2021 04.
Article
in English
| MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-962349
ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE:
The Australian Commonwealth Government introduced new psychiatrist Medicare-Benefits-Schedule (MBS)-telehealth items in the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic to assist with previously office-based psychiatric practice. We investigate private psychiatrists' uptake of (1) video- and telephone-telehealth consultations for Quarter-2 (April-June) of 2020 and (2) total telehealth and face-to-face consultations in Quarter-2, 2020 in comparison to Quarter-2, 2019 for Australia.METHODS:
MBS item service data were extracted for COVID-19-psychiatrist-video- and telephone-telehealth item numbers and compared with a baseline of the Quarter-2, 2019 (April-June 2019) of face-to-face consultations for the whole of Australia.RESULTS:
Combined telehealth and face-to-face psychiatry consultations rose during the first wave of the pandemic in Quarter-2, 2020 by 14% compared to Quarter-2, 2019 and telehealth was approximately half of this total. Face-to-face consultations in 2020 comprised only 56% of the comparative Quarter-2, 2019 consultations. Most telehealth provision was by telephone for short consultations of ⩽15-30 min. Video consultations comprised 38% of the total telehealth provision (for new patient assessments and longer consultations).CONCLUSIONS:
There has been a flexible, rapid response to patient demand by private psychiatrists using the new COVID-19-MBS-telehealth items for Quarter-2, 2020, and in the context of decreased face-to-face consultations, ongoing telehealth is essential.Keywords
Full text:
Available
Collection:
International databases
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Private Practice
/
Psychiatry
/
Practice Patterns, Physicians'
/
Telemedicine
/
Facilities and Services Utilization
/
COVID-19
/
Mental Health Services
Type of study:
Observational study
/
Prognostic study
Limits:
Humans
Country/Region as subject:
Oceania
Language:
English
Journal:
Australas Psychiatry
Journal subject:
Psychiatry
Year:
2021
Document Type:
Article
Affiliation country:
1039856220975294
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