Mental health decision-making support for GPs — Remunerated training is available
The Initial Assessment and Referral-Decision Support Tool (IAR-DST), developed by the Commonwealth Government as part of the national Mental Health and Suicide Prevention Plan, helps practitioners determine the appropriate level of care (across 5 levels of care) for individuals seeking mental health support.
The IAR-DST helps to identify the least intrusive intervention likely to deliver the greatest possible benefit for patients seeking mental health support. This approach reduces risks associated with under-servicing, such as poor health outcomes, and over-servicing, which can lead to unnecessary burdens of care placed on patients.
Primary healthcare professionals can use the tool's recommended level of care to support conversations about the next steps in their patients' health journey.
The IAR-DST does not provide mental health assessment, as final decisions should always be guided by your clinical judgment an individual patient's unique context and needs.
Access the IAR-DST: https://iar-dst.online/#/
How does the IAR-DST help my practice?
Hear about how the decision support tool can benefit your practice in this 1-minute video:
Using the IAR-DST can help you to:
- determine the level of mental health treatment needs of a patient
- assists in communicating with other services and clinicians using a shared metric/language
- document the needs of a patient to reduce medicolegal risk associated with mental health care.
Incentivised IAR-DST training is available
Brisbane South PHN delivers training on how you can best use the IAR-DST and how it can be implemented into your general practice.
GPs (and GP Registrars) who attend a 2-hour IAR training workshop will receive a once-off payment of $300 (excl. GST) and 2 CPD Hours. Conditions apply.*
*Payment is not available to other medical staff or clinicians. Payment is not available for GPs working in Commonwealth funded services (e.g., Adult Mental Health Centres, Aboriginal Medical Centres) unless training is completed outside of paid employment.
Register for the IAR-DST training
For more information or to register for training, visit the IAR-DST page on the Brisbane South PHN website or email iar@bsphn.org.au.
View the scheduled up-coming IAR-DST training events: https://bsphn.org.au/events?search=IAR-DST.
What are the patient experiences of the IAR-DST?
These 2 short videos explain the benefits of the IAR-DST from a patient perspective: