Poor uptake of new psych item.(Brief article)

Australian Doctor,  March, 2006  by Ferguson, Heather

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By Heather Ferguson

AN opportunity to increase psychiatric assessment of general practice patients through a new Medicare item is being lost because of a lack of funds to educate psychiatrists about the program.

Introduced in May last year, item 291 pays psychiatrists to assess a patient and then develop a comprehensive management plan for their GP.

However, between May and December last year psychiatrists claimed the item only 823 times. In WA, Tasmania and the ACT claims have reached a combined total of just 27. The low uptake comes despite the Psychiatrist Referral ...

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