Mental Health Clinical Advisor 3

Independent Hospital Pricing Authority

Mental Health Clinical Advisor

Job description

August 2017

Mental Health Clinical Advisor 3

Job description

Job Title: / Mental Health Clinical Advisor
Division: / Independent Hospital Pricing Authority
Branch: / Activity Based Funding
Section: / Classification and Coding Standards Section
Location: / Sydney, NSW
Status: / Non-ongoing contract basis
Contract length: / Up to 12 months
Employment type: / Part-time / full-time
Salary: / To be negotiated in accordance with experience and qualifications
Contact Officer: / Kylie Russell ( or 02 8215 1194)

Division Responsibilities

The Independent Hospital Pricing Authority (IHPA) was established in December 2011 as part of the National Health Reform agenda. IHPA is independent of Commonwealth, state and territory governments and is governed by the Pricing Authority, which is primarily responsible for the proper and efficient performance of IHPA’s functions.

IHPA’s mission is to determine the National Efficient Price (NEP) based on empirical evidence in such a way as to promote improved efficiency in, and access to, public hospital services. The NEP is the key price mechanism used in the implementation of Activity Based Funding (ABF) on a national basis.

Branch Responsibilities

The ABF Branch develops the classification, counting and costing systems that underpin any ABF system, as well as the costing, modelling and pricing work required to determine the NEP each year.

Section Responsibilities

The ABF Classification and Coding Standards Section recommends the clinical classifications, coding standards and business rules associated with the implementation of a nationally consistent ABF framework for public hospital services, categorised into five work streams –
non-admitted care, mental health care, subacute care, emergency care and teaching, training and research.

The Australian Mental Health Care Classification and mental health phase of care

As part of the implementation of ABF for mental health care, IHPA developed the Australian Mental Health Care Classification (AMHCC). The AMHCC is a clinically relevant classification that explains resource consumption (costs) at the consumer level. The AMHCC requires the collection of the new clinician-rated measure of the prospective goal of care called the ‘mental health phase of care’. The mental health phase of care describes the type and intensity of care expected for a consumer.

The consistent application of the mental health phase of care by clinicians is fundamental to the AMHCC and to the funding of mental health services under ABF. The basis of the AMHCC is that consumers in the same phase have the same goal of care and treatment, and therefore have similarities in their care needs and resources required. Inconsistent application of the mental health phase of care may result in consumers being classified, for the purposes of funding, into groups with consumers with very different care and resource requirements.

In 2016, IHPA conducted an inter-rater reliability study of mental health phase of care to test the rate of agreement amongst clinicians in assigning the mental health phase of care. The findings from the study confirm the need for the further development of the mental health phase of care concept to improve its inter-rater reliability for clinicians and its use in the ABF classification. However, the study suggested that the poor to fair level of inter-rater reliability was to be expected for such a new concept, and that more training and refinement to the definitions and supporting material would result in improvements in the level of agreement between clinicians. Furthermore, study participants expressed broad support for the concept of mental health phase of care and identified that the concept would be useful in clinical practice to support consistency in service delivery.

Position Description

The successful candidates will be working as a team with IHPA to undertake a clinically driven project (the Clinical Modification project) to work with clinicians in mental health services in admitted and community settings around the country, observing clinicians using the mental health phase of care in consumer assessments. The purpose of the project will be to ensure that the mental health phase of care concept is clinically meaningful and relevant for use in the AMHCC and to achieve improved consistency in its application. The project will be supported by a project manager within IHPA.

The successful candidates will be required to:

·  Work with IHPA staff to develop a detailed project plan and a project methodology to review and refine the mental health phase of care concept

·  Work with IHPA staff to prepare and coordinate ethics paperwork

·  Engage with a diverse range of mental health clinicians at a range of sites and service settings nationally to review the mental health phase of care concept using a variety of methods. For example, reviewing its application in individual consumer assessments or engaging with clinicians at clinical review meetings

·  Provide advice and recommendations on refinements to the mental health phase of care. For example, the number of phases, the phase descriptions and definitions

·  Provide advice and recommendations on the development of educational and support materials for the mental health phase of care concept

·  Contribute to a report which describes the outcomes of the Clinical Modification project, including proposed revisions to the mental health phase of care concept and supporting material.

Required skills, experience and knowledge

The successful candidates will be required to demonstrate the following skills, experience and knowledge:

·  Qualifications in a recognised mental health field such as psychology, mental health nursing, psychiatry, social work etc

·  Extensive experience working in the mental health care sector including clinical practice, particularly conducting consumer mental health assessments

·  Proven ability to communicate with clinicians and other mental health stakeholders

·  Proven ability to synthesise issues raised during consultations due to an existing understanding of data systems, care plans, clinical models and workforce demands

·  An understanding about the relevance of the mental health phase of care concept and its intention in relation to clinical care and the broader AMHCC

·  Ability to undertake domestic travel.

Flexible work arrangements

IHPA promotes a flexible workplace and will consider candidates who wish to work part-time or remotely.

Application response

Yourapplication will be assessed on your ability to demonstrate that you possess, or have the real potential to develop, the required skills, knowledge, experience and qualifications to perform the role.
Applicants are required to provide a curriculum vitae and a statement of claims framed around the position description. Your statement of claims should be no more than two pages in total with a font no smaller than size 10. Applications that do not meet these requirements may not be considered.