Insights Queensland Health Enhancements & QIMHS: Advancing Perinatal Mental Health Care

It was a genuine pleasure for the Diginostic team to attend the Queensland Infant Mental Health Symposium (QIMHS) this year. The conference brought together clinicians, researchers, and service providers from across the state, all working towards a shared goal: better outcomes for infants and families during the perinatal period.

Diginostic's relationship with Queensland Health spans several years, supporting the rollout of the Queensland Perinatal Mental Health Screening (QPMHS) program across Hospital and Health Services statewide. To date, the platform has delivered 70,935 screens across Queensland, reflecting the scale and reach of this collaboration. What began as a tool to provide consistent EPDS screening has grown into a platform that reflects the evolving needs of Queensland clinicians and the families they support, shaped through ongoing feedback from frontline staff.

Perinatal mental health concerns affect a significant proportion of new and expecting parents, and early identification is critical, for parental wellbeing and for healthy infant development and family functioning. 

Family violence is similarly under-identified without structured, sensitive screening tools, particularly given the heightened vulnerability of the perinatal period. The enhancements showcased at the conference were developed with this in mind, each one aimed at closing a specific gap in how risk is identified and responded to in clinical practice.

The latest QPMHS updates centre on making screening more responsive, safe, and useful at the point of care. Family Violence screening can now be completed independently of the EPDS, reducing repeat assessments for patients and allowing opportunistic screening. It also ensures sensitive questions, covering coercive control, threats, and child safety, are only asked once a patient is with a clinician and has confirmed they are alone and safe. 

A new clinician prompt following Question 10 offers guidance for sensitive follow-up conversations, plus new platform flags give clinicians a quick visual way to identify risk and key outcomes across busy caseloads. 

For Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women, a dedicated Kimberley Mums Mood Scale (KMMS) report provides culturally appropriate information and support pathways, and updated patient reports now connect individuals directly to relevant Queensland referral pathways. Together, these updates reflect close, ongoing collaboration with Queensland Health to ensure the platform evolves alongside the needs of clinicians and the families they support.

Beyond the features on display, the conference was a valuable opportunity to hear directly from clinicians and HHS facilitators about what's working well and where further support is needed. These conversations continue to shape the direction of our work in partnership, reinforcing that meaningful digital health tools are built through ongoing collaboration, not delivered once and left static.

Our ongoing commitment remains to strengthen perinatal mental health screening, so that Queensland families receive the timely, appropriate help they need, now and as the platform continues to evolve alongside the needs of the services and communities it supports.