Medicare Information and Resources for General Practitioners and Psychologists
Help is on the way: Support for individuals, couples and families in the community.
Recent changes to Medicare have made psychological support much more accessible the Australian community. Through the Medicare Benefits Scheme GPs can now create Mental Health Care Plan's for patients who would benefit from psychological treatment. Under a Mental Health Care Plan patients can claim 12-18 sessions with a registered psychologists and 12 sessions of group psychotherapy, per calendar year.
Doctor referals are only required for the Psychology Clinic's OCD and Bipolar Group Therapy Programs, which are run by a clinical psychologists. A medical referral is not needed to access the Clinic's individual, couple and family counselling service, other group therapy programs or the Clinic's psychological assessment services. All of the Psychology Clinic's programs are provided to the Melbourne community on a low-cost basis.
The Swinburne Psychology Clinic continues to provides a unique avenue for providing psychological support to people who cannot afford to pay a GAP fee and also for people who would benefit from psychological support, but do not meet the diagnostic criteria for a mental illness. The Clinic can also provided treatment for patients who wish to obtain more than the 12 sessions of psychological treatment available through Medicare. The Swinburne Psychology Clinic is the largest university clinic in Australia and provides a vital role in providing future psychologists with the appropriate experience, training and clinical skills they need to work independently. All work conducted by counsellors at the Clinic is supervised by registered psychologists who have significant academic and applied experience to ensure a quality of treatment is not compromised.
Medicare
The following documents are made available to GP's through the Swinburne Psychology Clinic. Please click on the links below to download.
- Mental Health Care Plan Template (Medicare Item No. 2710, Fee $150)
A free template for the creation of a Mental Health Care Plan can be downloaded by GPs from the link above. - Medicare GP Item Descriptors
Important information about Medicare item numbers and fees earned by GPs to create and review a patients Mental Health Care Plan. - Medicare Item Explanatory Notes
Medicare information about the provision of psychological services by clinical psychologists.