GP Letters
Additionally GP letters are:
For fully registered Psychologists operating under Medicare, GP letters are a requirement.
Additionally GP letters are:
- Integral for the client care
- Important for maintaining and creating good relationships with professionals and referrers
- A mode of client advocacy to ensure they can access potential benefits
When to Write a Letter?
- After an intake with a client on a GP referral
- After 4th or 6th session with a client on a GP referral (determined by the number of sessions suggested in the referral by GP)
- After 10th session pending referral allocation
- After completing assessment with a client referred by another practitioner
- When the client who was referred discontinues/finishes therapy
Note: It is the clinician’s responsibility to track this progress and complete these letters. Provisional psychologists are unable to rebate clients under mental health care plans, thus letters are not Medicare mandated. In this case, please notify GP that your client is not using mental health care plan, but you will keep them informed as per above process.
Referral Requirements/Facts
- You can accept a client even if the referral is to a different psychologist.
- A referral is different from a MHCP – MHCP is the GP’s assessment of the client, referral is their letter to the psychologist. We aim to write an initial letter regardless of whether a MHCP has been actioned or not.
- A valid referral needs to have:
- Date
- Patient’s Name
- Patient’s symptoms or diagnosis
- Request to the psychologist to see the patient
- Signature and provider number of the referrer
- A psychiatrist or paediatrician can refer clients to you and they don’t need to do a MHCP. Their referrals require similar information.
- Psychologists’ letters to the GP and GP referrals and MHCP will need to be in client’s file, for Medicare Audit.
How To Write A GP Letter
- Read referral to check how many sessions the GP has included. Take a note and inform the client during intake that you will provide a letter to their GP after X number of sessions.
- If the client books ahead of time, you can use a client named “GP Review” to put next to relevant sessions. This is to remind yourself that a letter needs to be actioned and may only be done by admin if they have time.
- If you come to the end of the clients allocated Medicare appointments (if applicable), you will need to title your letter as a request for re-referral – this means you recommend the clients condition has made some improvements but would benefit from ongoing sessions. You will need to communicate this with your client, as they will need to attend their GP to get re-referred before any rebate applies
- If you feel the client’s condition has changed, you can title your letter “GP Review” and you will still need to communicate with your client regarding attending their GP
- If you have not communicated with your client during session regarding GP contact, ensure an email and text is sent to notify them that they will need to see their GP for re-referral prior to their next session
If you would like to use a template, you can find an intake session templatehere, or a re-referral templatehere.
Sending Your Letter
- Once you have written your letter, you will need to put it into SharePoint for admin to send to the GP via Medical Objects
- Place the letter in word form into this folder: GP Letters to Send
- Upload a copy of the letter to the clients Admin files for record and future reference (the GP letters folder will be deleted at the end of each month so please do not rely on this)
