The Outpatient Provision of Care for Mental Disorders in a Rural Area: An Analysis of Reimbursement Claims in Mecklenburg-West Pomerania*

Mental disorders cause a substantial amount of the burden of disease. Although they are less frequent in rural areas, their provision of care is disproportionately lower. Reimbursement claims in the federal state of Mecklenburg-West Pomerania of the years 2006/2007 serve as the basis for the descriptive distribution of subgroups on the total number of mental disorders and their outpatient care. Of all claims, 35.3% were allotted to neurotic, stress-related and somatoform disorders, 24.2% to affective disorders and 12.5% to substance use disorders. Claims for reimbursement were made for 44.7% by general practitioners, 15.1% by neurologists and psychiatrists, 12.6% by gynaecologists, and 8.1% by internists. Psychotherapists claimed 3.1%. These results cause considerations regarding the establishment of psychotherapeutic and neurological / psychiatric practices as well as the significance of mental disorders in the training of general practitioners.