Evaluation of the mental health nurse incentive program
5.7 Program registration and guidelines
Table of contents
5.7.1 Registration process
5.7.2 Program guidelines
5.7.1 Registration process
The practice manager, program manager, or finance manager (in the case of Medicare Locals) mainly performed the registration process. None of these respondents reported problems with the registration process.Medical practitioners were asked for their views on the registration process. The results in table 5.21 showed over 70% were very satisfied or satisfied with the registration process.
Suggested improvements by medical practitioners are given in table 5.22.
Table 5.21: Medical practitioner views of the MHNIP registration process - the views of participating medical practitioners
| Response | No. of responses | % |
|---|---|---|
| Very satisfied | 61 | 29.2 |
| Satisfied | 92 | 44.0 |
| Neither satisfied nor dissatisfied | 49 | 23.4 |
| Dissatisfied | 3 | 1.4 |
| Very dissatisfied | 4 | 1.9 |
| Total | 209 | 100 |
Source: medical practitioner survey
Top of pageTable 5.22: Improvements to registration process - the views of participating medical practitioners
| Major Theme | No. of responses | % |
|---|---|---|
| The process needs to be simplified (e.g. by making the process electronic) | 21 | 41.2 |
| I was not involved in this process | 10 | 19.6 |
| I am unsure | 8 | 15.7 |
| Organisations should be advised of the outcome of their application within a shorter period of time | 6 | 11.8 |
| Response not related to the registration process | 5 | 9.8 |
| Requirements relating to the level of training for either mental health nurse and medical practitioners are excessive | 2 | 3.9 |
| The skills of the people to be involved in the program should be more closely evaluated | 1 | 2.0 |
| Total respondents | 51 |
Note: the total number of responses may be greater than the total number of responses, as respondents may have indicated more than one theme
Source: survey of medical practitioners
5.7.2 Program guidelines
The Program Guidelines were reported to be easily accessible by the majority of medical practitioners (68.4%) and mental health nurses (89.6%) surveyed. 22.8% of medical practitioners and 1.4% of mental health nurse respondents had not seen or accessed the guidelines.Detailed finding #20: MHNIP guidelines are easily accessible and have been used by the majority of medical practitioners and mental health nurses, however some suggestions were made regarding improving the guidelines.
Views on scope for improving the Guidelines varied. The majority of medical practitioners indicated no (65.1%). However, 57.8% of mental health nurse suggested improvements were possible in the following areas:
- allowing the mental health nurse to become the eligible organisation, with medical practitioners being able to refer directly to them;
- clearer descriptions of services that can be provided;
- clearer descriptions of the reporting requirements;
- providing more specific information in the form of examples, as the current guidelines are open to interpretation;
- less jargon;
- include patients who may not meet the entry criteria or are less severe, but could benefit from a brief intervention as a preventative measure; and
- the role, expertise and duties that mental health nurses provide under MHNIP is too restrictive. In practice, mental health nurses can provide services above and beyond what is outlined in the program guidelines. The guidelines should reflect this to ensure the best outcome for patients.