AH25011The trend of once-off versus follow-up Medicare-reimbursed psychiatric consultations and increased telehealth availability: an interrupted time series analysis
What is known about the topic? Following the Medicare Benefits Schedule telehealth expansion in 2020 and consolidation in 2022, video-telepsychiatry usage increased but varied across demographic groups. What does this paper add? We studied the trends of once-off assessments and follow-up sessions for psychiatric consultations. We showed that the growth of video once-off assessments far outpaced their face-to-face counterparts since telehealth policy changes and was more sustained in younger age groups. What are the implications for practitioners? The rapid increase in the utilisation of once-off telepsychiatry assessments may affect care quality and healthcare costs and influence consumer health behaviours.