194 AUSTRALASIAN PSYCHIATRY https://doi.org/10.1177/1039856221992634 Australasian Psychiatry 2021, Vol 29(2) 194–199 © The Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists 2021 Article reuse guidelines: sagepub.com/journals-permissions DOI: 10.1177/1039856221992634 journals.sagepub.com/home/apy T he first confirmed case of COVID-19 in Australia was identified late January 2020. Cases rose rapidly such that on 20 March, the federal government closed the international border, followed shortly by lock- downs at state level. Although case numbers levelled and then fell, there was a second wave of infections in Victoria Increased Australian outpatient private practice psychiatric care during the COVID-19 pandemic: usage of new MBS-telehealth item and face-to-face psychiatrist office-based services in Quarter 3, 2020 Jeffrey CL Looi Academic Unit of Psychiatry and Addiction Medicine, Australian National University Medical School, Canberra Hospital, Canberra, ACT, Australia; and Private Psychiatry, Canberra, ACT, Australia Stephen Allison College of Medicine and Public Health, Flinders University, Adelaide, SA, Australia Tarun Bastiampillai College of Medicine and Public Health, Flinders University, Adelaide, SA, Australia; and Department of Psychiatry, Monash University, Clayton, VIC, Australia William Pring Monash University, VIC, Australia; Centre for Mental Health Education and Research at Delmont Private Hospital, Melbourne, VIC, Australia; and Private Psychiatry, Melbourne, VIC, Australia Rebecca Reay Academic Unit of Psychiatry and Addiction Medicine, Australian National University Medical School, Canberra Hospital, Canberra, ACT, Australia; and Private Practice, Canberra, ACT, Australia Stephen R Kisely School of Medicine, The University of Queensland, Princess Alexandra Hospital, Woolloongabba, Brisbane, QLD, Australia; and Departments of Psychiatry, Community Health and Epidemiology, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada Abstract Objective: The Australian federal government introduced new COVID-19 psychiatrist Medicare Benefits Schedule (MBS) telehealth items to assist with providing private specialist care. We investigate private psychiatrists’ uptake of video and telephone telehealth, as well as total (telehealth and face-to-face) consultations for Quarter 3 (July– September), 2020. We compare these to the same quarter in 2019. Method: MBS-item service data were extracted for COVID-19-psychiatrist video and telephone telehealth item num- bers and compared with Quarter 3 (July–September), 2019, of face-to-face consultations for the whole of Australia. Results: The number of psychiatry consultations (telehealth and face-to-face) rose during the first wave of the pandemic in Quarter 3, 2020, by 14% compared to Quarter 3, 2019, with telehealth 43% of this total. Face-to-face consultations in Quarter 3, 2020 were only 64% of the comparative number of Quarter 3, 2019 consultations. Most telehealth involved short telephone consultations of ⩽15–30 min. Video consultations comprised 42% of total tele- health provision: these were for new patient assessments and longer consultations. These figures represent increased face-to-face consultation compared to Quarter 2, 2020, with substantial maintenance of telehealth consultations. Conclusions: Private psychiatrists continued using the new COVID-19 MBS telehealth items for Quarter 3, 2020 to increase the number of patient care contacts in the context of decreased face-to-face consultations compared to 2019, but increased face-to-face consultations compared to Quarter 2, 2020. Keywords: COVID-19, telepsychiatry, telehealth, psychiatrist, private practice Corresponding author: Jeffrey CL Looi, Academic Unit of Psychiatry and Addiction Medicine, Australian National University Medical School, Building 4, Level 2, Canberra Hospital, PO Box 11, Garran, ACT 2605, Australia. Email: jeffrey.looi@anu.edu.au 992634APY Australasian PsychiatryLooi et al. COVID-19