Initial Assessment and Referral - Decision Support Tool
New decision support tool to help you connect your patients with the right mental health support, quickly.
Primary care and allied health are often the first point of contact for people seeking mental health support. Patients often present with a range of interrelated factors that are important to consider when determining the most appropriate level of care.
The Initial Assessment and Referral Decision Support Tool (IAR-DST) has been designed to assist GPs and other mental health referrers to document clinical decision making and find the most suitable referral services for the patient at a local level. It provides a standardised, evidence-based and objective approach to assist with mental health care recommendations. You can read more about this Department of Health and Aged Care initiative here.
The IAR guides clinicians to consider what information needs to be collected from patients, to conduct a patient-centred and holistic assessment.
Considerations include the availability of informal support (like family), life circumstances that may be impacting your patient, co-existing conditions, and the patient’s motivation to access supports. The information gathered is then used to recommend a service type and level of care (level of intensity) to help inform a referral decision made by the GP.
Your clinical judgement, combined with the IAR decision support tool, will ensure the person seeking support is directed to the most appropriate care – no matter where they sit along their recovery journey.
Improve your workflow and save time
Using this support tool will help improve the efficiency of the mental health consultation, by streamlining the collection of relevant information.
The IAR can also be found in the RediCASE eReferral form, which can be integrated with Best Practice and Medical Director software. The RediCASE eReferral form is also available as an e-link however it does not have the full integration functionality.
Learn more about the RediCASE eReferral form.
Consistency for patient experience
The IAR is being progressively introduced across federal and state mental health services. Widespread uptake of the IAR means there will be consistency in the approach to assessment, referrals and service provision across the sector.
Help you refer appropriately into local services
The IAR tool supports the stepped care approach to service delivery, which helps match people to the most appropriate services for their mental health needs.
The stepped care model comprises a continuum of interventions based on levels of resource intensity – from least to most intensive – matched to the individual’s needs. This approach also allows people to move easily between local services as their support needs change.
Training
Brisbane North PHN offers multiple training modalities to help General Practitioners, GP Registrars and other mental health referrers understand how to best apply the IAR decision support tool.
The training will provide you with all the information you need to use the tool in a way that suits your practice. Brisbane North PHN training also provides information about local referral pathways and service providers, and the RediCASE eReferral tool. IAR-DST training is not mandatory.
GPs and GP Registrars will receive
- $300 incentive payment*
- CPD points (1 hour Reviewing Performance and 1 hour Educational Activities through RACGP and 2 hours CPD for ACRRM).
- *payment is available to GPs and GP registrars. The one-off payment is not available to other medical staff, clinicians or GPs working with Adult Mental Health Centres or Aboriginal Medical Services already funded by the Government, unless the training is outside of normal employed hours.
IAR-DST training can be completed online or in person. If more than one mental health referrer at your workplace would like to complete IAR training, we are able to send out a training support officer to you, at a date and time of your choosing, to conduct a tailored workshop for your needs. In person training includes watching a thirty-minute theory video online prior to your session, in preparation for a ninety-minute face-to-face workshop in your clinic or workplace.
To arrange a face-to-face IAR training workshop for your place of work, please complete the EOI form here.
To register for one of our online training sessions please see dates below and click on the relevant link.
February
Friday 14 February 12.00 – 2.00 pm
Register here
Thursday 20 February 6.00 – 8.00 pm
Register here
Wednesday 26 February 6.30 – 8.30 pm
Register here
March
Friday 7 March 12.00 – 2.00 pm
Register here
Thursday 20 March 6.30 – 8.30 pm
Register here
Friday 28 March 12.00 – 2.00 pm
Register here
April
Wednesday 2 April 6.00 – 8.00 pm
Register here
Wednesday 23 April 6.30 – 8.30 pm
Register here
Clinicians can choose to have face-to-face training in their own clinics. Clinicians would complete a thirty minute self-paced video followed by a ninety minute face-to-face in-clinic workshop. To express your interest in arranging a face-to-face workshop for your clinic, please complete the EOI form here.
Contact us
Please contact Stephen Giles on 07 3490 3426 or email if you have any questions about the IAR-DST or the IAR-DST training.
Resources and links
We acknowledge the Traditional Custodians within our region: the Jagera, Turrbal, Gubbi Gubbi, Waka Waka and the Ningy Ningy peoples of where we meet, work and learn. Brisbane North PHN is committed to reconciliation. Our vision for reconciliation is where the stories of our First Nations’ people are heard and shared, and networks are formed.