The Australian Psychology Workforce 4: An analysis of psychologists in private practice providing Medicare-funded services

Abstract

There have always been independent private psychology practitioners in Australia, yet in the past payment of their services was largely by a user-pays model.

Considerations in providing shared‐care psychological treatment for clients who have alcohol or other drug misuse problems

“…Most of the interested psychologists indicated that they would be able to see new clients within one or two weeks. This short delay was similar to the delay that was found in a recently published survey of the Australian private-practice psychologist workforce (Stokes, Mathews, Grenyer, & Stokes, 2010). Also consistent with the findings reported in other studies, our survey found that many psychologists required either no co-payment or only a small co-payment from their clients (Fletcher et al, 2009;Morley et al, 2007).…”

“…Medicare's Better Access to Psychiatrists, Psychologists, and General Practitioners (GP) programme allows clients to receive a rebate when they are referred by a GP to a psychologist for assessment and management of disorders which include AOD disorders, depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress, insomnia, eating disorders, sexual disorders, panic, psychotic disorders, and unexplained somatic complaints. This is the Medicare funding scheme which is the most commonly accessed by psychologists in private practice (Stokes et al, 2010).…”

“…There are three main pathways through which Medicare funds treatment provided by psychologists: Medicare's Better Access to Psychiatrists, Psychologists, and General Practitioners (GP) programme allows clients to receive a rebate when they are referred by a GP to a psychologist for assessment and management of disorders which include AOD disorders, depression, anxiety, post‐traumatic stress, insomnia, eating disorders, sexual disorders, panic, psychotic disorders, and unexplained somatic complaints. This is the Medicare funding scheme which is the most commonly accessed by psychologists in private practice (Stokes et al., ). Another programme, Better Outcomes in Mental Health Care (BOIMHC) programme operates mainly through Access to Allied Psychological Services (ATAPS) projects which are conducted by Divisions of General Practice. Of relevance here, an evaluation of ATAPS found that two thirds of referred patients had low incomes, and that co‐payments by patients were usually not required and were rarely greater than $10 per session (Fletcher et al., ). Patients with a chronic medical condition and complex care needs (which would include a large proportion of AOD clients) can be managed by GPs under an Enhanced Primary Care (EPC) plan.…”