MindSpot Clinic

What is already known on this subject? ○ Geographical location can be a barrier to accessing mental health care. About 28% of the Australian population lives in regional and remote locations. ○ Digital psychology services have been successfully implemented in Australia, but few studies have specifically examined outcomes for patients located outside major cities, one of the main target groups of these services. What does this study add?

Bipolar patients at assessment Between 1st January 2013 and 31st December 2019, a total of 96,018 patients completed an assessment at MindSpot and 21,745 commenced one of the treatment courses. Of these 124 reported taking Lithium, and 88 had entries in their clinic records confirming the reason for taking Lithium, of whom 83 (94.3%) had entries in their clinic records confirming the diagnosis of BD.

Summary Background Interest is growing in digital and telehealth delivery of mental health services, but data are scarce on outcomes in routine care. The federally funded Australian MindSpot Clinic provides online and telephone psychological assessment and treatment services to Australian adults. We aimed to summarise demographic characteristics and treatment outcomes of patients registered with MindSpot over the first 7 years of clinic operation.