HotDoc telehealth pilot suspended

HotDoc’s ‘Telehealth on Demand’ pilot program, which aimed to help ‘address the growing challenge of timely access to primary care’, has been suspended just five months after its launch.
 
It follows criticism from GPs that the service was fragmenting care and weakening GP–patient relationships.
 
‘What’s clear is that we got this wrong,’ said HotDoc CEO Dr Ben Hurst in a statement.
 
‘We’ve heard your feedback loud and clear: this booking flow felt like it could compromise the trusted relationships you have built with your patients.
 
‘That was never our intention, and we’ve taken some immediate actions based on this.’
 
The pilot program offered patients a platform to book ‘low complexity’ appointments without nominating a specific GP, only a practice, and was designed to test whether these available appointments could be opened for patients who would otherwise struggle to make a timely appointment, while also ‘helping GPs fill their books’.
 
These patients received the option of booking with a GP at the practice or a telehealth doctor listed as ‘not your regular care team’.
 
The telehealth doctor was one of 50 GPs participating in the pilot who had open appointments in the next two hours.
 
HotDoc claimed the service would not replace a patient’s regular GP, with patients asked to return to their regular GP for follow up and ongoing care.
 
However, these ‘significant’ updates to booking flow were made before the company instigated broader consultation with stakeholders.
 
Now, the RACGP is calling for broader consultation with primary care providers before a telehealth platform implements further changes that can impact practices.
 
RACGP President Dr Michael Wright welcomes the opportunity to allow for further consultation with GPs and practices.
 
‘It’s really important that technology supports continuity of care and access to high-quality, comprehensive general practice services,’ he told newsGP.
 
‘If digital tools fragment care, GPs will rapidly lose trust.
 
‘The strong feedback from GPs shows that HotDoc is on notice that it needs to consult broadly before making changes that impact practices and their business models.’
 
Following the telehealth pilot being put on hold from 11 July, a consultation process has been launched with stakeholders and the wider industry to ‘revisit how this booking flow fits into the practice and patient experience’.
 
According to a 2024 HotDoc patient survey, one in four patients use online-only healthcare providers, while many more delay or skip care altogether. It also found more than five million GP appointments go unfilled each year.
 
Dr Hurst has now acknowledged and apologised that the pilot needed further input from HotDoc’s wider customer base.
 
‘That was an oversight, he said. ‘I should have done better to ensure more proactive communication.’
 
GPs can join the pilot’s consultation process via the online submission form. HotDoc has also launched a changelog which will include regular updates and actions.
 
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continuity of care GP–patient relationship HotDoc telehealth virtual healthcare