Greatly increased Victorian outpatient private psychiatric care during the COVID-19 pandemic: new MBS-telehealth-item and face-to-face psychiatrist office-based services from April–September 2020. (August 2021)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Looi, Jeffrey C L; Allison, Stephen; Kisely, Stephen R; Pring, William; Reay, Rebecca E; Bastiampillai, Tarun
• Is Part Of: Australasian psychiatry. Volume 29:Number 4(2021)
• Page Start: 423
• Page End: 429
• Publication Date: 2021-08
• Subjects: COVID-19 -- telepsychiatry -- telehealth -- private practice -- Australia; Psychiatry -- Australasia -- Periodicals; Psychiatry -- Periodicals; 616.89005
• DOI: 10.1177/10398562211006133
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1039-8562

Abstract

Objective: The Australian Federal government introduced new COVID-19-Psychiatrist-Medicare-Benefits-Schedule (MBS) telehealth-items to assist with providing private specialist care. We investigate private psychiatrists' uptake of telehealth, and face-to-face consultations for April–September 2020 for the state of Victoria, which experienced two consecutive waves of COVID-19. We compare these to the same 6 months in 2019. Method: MBS-item-consultation data were extracted for video, telephone and face-to-face consultations with a psychiatrist for April–September 2020 and compared to face-to-face consultations in the same period of 2019 Victoria-wide, and for all of Australia. Results: Total Victorian psychiatry consultations (telehealth and face-to-face) rose by 19% in April–September 2020 compared to 2019, with telehealth comprising 73% of this total. Victoria's increase in total psychiatry consultations was 5% higher than the all-Australian increase. Face-to-face consultations in April–September 2020 were only 46% of the comparative 2019 consultations. Consultations of less than 15 min duration (87% telephone and 13% video) tripled in April–September 2020, compared to the same period last year. Video consultations comprised 41% of total telehealth provision: these were used mainly for new patient assessments and longer consultations. Conclusions: During the pandemic, Victorian private psychiatrists used COVID-19-MBS-telehealth-items to substantially increase the number of total patient care consultations for 2020 compared to 2019.