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RACGP calls for telehealth reforms

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The RACGP is calling on governments to bolster telehealth access as part of an updated position statement on the increasingly utilised service.
 
‘The use of telehealth in general practice’ document outlines the importance of giving all patients access to high-quality virtual healthcare, led by a GP who knows them best.
 
In its statement, the college:

• supports telehealth services that provide continuity of care between a patient and their usual GP
• considers telehealth to be complementary to, rather than a substitute for face-to-face care
• does not support any telehealth model that results in fragmentation of care and risks patient safety
• believes the most appropriate mode of telehealth (phone or video) is best decided by the GP and the patient
• cautions that telehealth must be delivered by trained professionals.

RACGP President Dr Nicole Higgins welcomed the position statement, saying telehealth is here to stay.
 
Regarding video versus telephone consultations, Dr Higgins agreed that the decision should be made between the GP and their patient on a case-by-case basis.
 
‘There are many benefits of video consults, including that you can see whether your patient is distressed or ill at ease, but video may not be suitable for all patients, including those with limited technological literacy, people living in rural and remote areas, and older patients,’ she told newsGP.
 
‘To enable this, the Government should make Medicare items for longer phone consults a permanent fixture of our telehealth system.
 
‘Enabling longer phone consults improves access to care for some of our most vulnerable patient groups. We cannot leave patients behind simply because they do not have the means to access video technology.’
 
The statement was formed in response to the Medical Board of Australia’s Revised telehealth guidelines, which were designed to ‘close the gap that’s sprung up between online prescribing business models and good medical practice’.
 
Released last month, those guidelines include the addition that online tick-box prescribing without a real-time patient–doctor consultation is not good medical practice.
 
‘This includes asynchronous requests for medication communicated by text, email, live-chat or online … and are based on the patient completing a health questionnaire, when the practitioner has never spoken with the patient,’ the guidelines say.
 
Dr Higgins warned GPs of the growing trend of ‘opportunistic pop-up online telehealth companies’, saying they disrupt continuity of care.
 
‘The long-term health and wellbeing of the patient must come first, and many of these online companies are set up to sell a particular product, whether that be a weight loss drug, medicinal cannabis product or nicotine vaping product,’ she said.
 
The RACGP’s position statement comes after COVID-19 changed the telehealth landscape.
 
In the first two years of the pandemic alone, more than 100 million telehealth services were delivered to around 17 million Australians.
 
Of those services, 83% were provided by GPs.
 
Moving forward, Dr Higgins said more research is needed to understand the benefits and challenges of telehealth consulting.
 
‘Telehealth has come such a long way and has transformed how we deliver care,’ she said.
 
‘But we must make sure we have the best possible system in place to continue delivering quality GP-led care via telehealth that meets our patients evolving needs now and into the future.’
 
The RACGP’s Vision for general practice and a sustainable healthcare system provides more information, highlighting the importance of patients developing an ongoing therapeutic relationship with a usual GP.
 
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general practice telehealth

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