Overview
Objectives
Program detail
Achievements
Resources
For more information
Overview
The Mental Health Nurse Incentive Program (MHNIP) is part of the CoAG National Action Plan on Mental Health. Responsibility for the program rests with the Australian Government Department of Health and Ageing, with $191.6 million committed over the five years of the program.
Objectives
This program provides a non-MBS incentive payment to community based general practices, private psychiatrist services and other appropriate organisations (such as divisions of general practice) that engage or retain mental health nurses to assist in the provision of coordinated clinical care for people with severe mental disorders in the community.
Program detail
The MHNIP funds eligible organisations to engage mental health nurses to assist in the provision of coordinated clinical care for people with severe mental health disorders. Eligible organisations include:
- General Practices
- Private Psychiatry Practices
- Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Primary Health Care Services (AMS)
- Divisions of General Practice
Mental health nurses work in collaboration with psychiatrists and GPs to provide services such as monitoring a patient’s mental state, medication management and improving links to other health professionals and clinical service providers. These services are provided in a range of settings, such as clinics or patient’s homes and are provided at little or no cost to the patient. Support provided under this initiative targets patients with severe mental health disorders during periods of significant disability. A patient should exit the MHNIP when he or she does not require the level of support as outlined.
A payment of $240.00 (GST inclusive) per session is available to eligible organisations via a retrospective claiming system. This figure is inclusive of all mental health nurse salary and on-costs, including personal and recreation leave. A 25% loading applies in very remote, remote and outer regional areas (defined by the Australian Standard Geographic Classification Remoteness List). Mental health nurses can be engaged between one and ten sessions per week, and must see, on average, two eligible patients per session. As a guide, a full time mental health nurse, working 10 sessions per week, must have an average case-load of 20 individual patients with a severe mental health disorder per week. In an urban area, this would attract a weekly payment of $2,400.00 (GST inclusive) and in very remote, remote and outer regional areas, this would attract a weekly payment of $3,000.00 (GST inclusive). Claims are paid monthly, with all claims submitted within a month, paid at the end of the following month. Payments will reflect the number of sessions detailed in the claim form (up to a maximum of 10 sessions per week).
Eligibility requirements exist for the organisations, the nurses and the patients. All eligibility requirements are detailed in the MHNIP Program Guidelines. Other important documents, such as application forms, claim forms and FAQs are all available in the resources section below.
Bi-monthly MHNIP Teleconferences
GPQ hosts bi-monthly MHNIP teleconferences. These teleconferences provide mental health nurses and divisions of general practice with the opportunity to receive state-wide program updates as well as the opportunity to provide feedback to GPQ regarding any problems or issues that they have experienced through the program. For teleconference details, please email Lauren Jesberg on ljesberg@gpqld.com.au.
Achievements
In October 2008, GPQ convened a Mental Health Nurse Incentive Program Forum. This was in response to numerous requests from our member divisions, individual mental health nurses, GPs and privately practicing psychiatrists, who were all keen to come together to better understand the program, and discuss ways of optimising its effect. The agenda, presentations, discussion notes and evaluation summary are all available for download here.
Resources
For more information
Please contact: Lindy Fentiman, Team Leader - Programs at lfentiman@gpqld.com.au.