Characteristics of patients seen by visiting psychiatrists through Medicare in a rural community mental health service with an established telemedicine service.
OBJECTIVE
We aimed to determine characteristics of patients receiving Medicare-funded face-to-face consultations by psychiatrists in a rural service with an established telemedicine service.


METHODS
For this study, 55 case-managed patients from four rural community mental health teams in South Australia provided information through questionnaires regarding psychological symptoms, quality of life, body mass index (BMI) and gave access to their Medicare data.


RESULTS
In a logistic regression, it was found that being younger was more likely associated with a Medicare psychiatric consultation ( p<0.05). Participants with at least one recorded visit to a Medicare psychiatrist consultation also tended to have lower levels of psychological distress at the end of the 4-year period, have a higher BMI, and more general practitioner consultations.


CONCLUSIONS
The study provides clinicians and policy makers with preliminary information on the subtle differences in clinical profile of patients seen by Medicare-funded psychiatrists within an established state-managed telepsychiatry service.
Digital Psychiatry and Personal Health Informatics group lead, Mind and Brain Theme, South Australian Health and Medical Research Institute, Associate Professor, School of Medicine, Flinders University, Adelaide, SA, Australia.
Niranjan
N
Bidargaddi
Country Health South Australia; School of Medicine, Flinders University, Adelaide, SA, Australia.
Geoffrey
G
Schrader
Flinders University, School of Medicine, Adelaide, SA, Australia.
David
D
Smith
Flinders University, School of Medicine, Adelaide, SA, Australia.
Dean
D
Carson
Country Health South Australia; School of Medicine, Flinders University, Adelaide, SA, Australia.
Jörg
J
Strobel
D000328:Adult; D003156:Community Mental Health Services / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000628:therapy*; D028642:Persons with Psychiatric Disorders / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D008875:Middle Aged; D009313:National Health Programs / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D010043:Outcome and Process Assessment, Health Care / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011570:Psychiatry / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D012017:Referral and Consultation / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D012424:Rural Population / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D013021:South Australia; D017216:Telemedicine / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*
linked data; medicare; telepsychiatry