Doctors and GP clinics to get free NBN speed upgrades for six months to support telehealth
Doctors with slow broadband connections will get free speed boosts under a new NBN scheme to deliver telehealth consultations. But experts say others should benefit too.
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Doctors and GP clinics connected to the National Broadband Network will be given a free speed boost for the next six months in a Federal Government initiative to support frontline workers.
The upgrade, which will see the medical professionals able to access 50 megabit per second download speeds, will also support more telehealth consultations, which have skyrocketed since Medicare changes last week.
But telecommunications analysts say the Government and NBN Co should not stop at the medical profession, with the potential to support the rest of the community during the coronavirus pandemic.
Communications Minister Paul Fletcher revealed the new plan to support Australia’s frontline health workers at the virtual CommsDay Summit on Monday afternoon.
“This means that clinics that may have purchased a residential 12 megabit per second or 25mbps service can speak to their retailers to get the extra bandwidth to support their increased online activity at no additional cost,” he said.
“A 50mbps service can easily support multiple video conferencing streams simultaneously.”
Mr Fletcher said the new offer would be available to any of Australia’s 30,000 doctors and 8000 clinics in Australia on lower speeds, 90 per cent of which were offering telehealth services during the COVID-19 crisis.
But a survey by health software provider Medical Director found only 60 per cent of doctors were offering video consultations, and had named “hardware and connectivity issues as a barrier”.
The new offer from NBN Co will come in addition to greater capacity added to the broadband network last month, and Mr Fletcher flagged more changes to come.
“This will be part of a broader raft of measures that NBN Co is currently finalising with retailers,” he told the conference.
“The aim is to help Australian families through this difficult period and will include support for those who can’t pay their internet bills and those who have lost their jobs.”
Australian Communications Consumer Action Network chief executive Teresa Corbin welcomed the announcement, saying telehealth was “playing an unprecedented role across the nation during the COVID-19 pandemic”.
Independent telecommunications analyst Paul Budde said the new measures could help out doctors significantly as limited upload speeds offered on low-priced NBN plans were not enough to support video telemedicine consultations with patients.
He said doctors in some areas may still struggle to get fast broadband connections, however, and NBN Co should be upgraded in future to address “weak spots” in the network around “fixed wireless, satellite and fibre-to-the-node (copper) connections”.
“This experience will see more people expect better remote healthcare options during a crisis and now we need to use this unique opportunity to go forward,” he said.
“For the next crisis, let’s hope we have a fibre-to-the-home network.”
Similar speed boosts, he said, should also be offered to other home-based workers and students during the pandemic.
Last week Health Minister Greg Hunt announced expanded Medicare rebates for remote consultations with doctors to allow patients to get health advice without risking a coronavirus infection and, he said, “making telehealth a key weapon in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic”.
Remote healthcare services now include GP consultations, as well as meetings with specialists, counsellors, and nurse practitioners.
Originally published as Doctors and GP clinics to get free NBN speed upgrades for six months to support telehealth