After-hours doctor service probed over theme park incentive
A HOME-DOCTOR company is under investigation for offering 10,000 tickets to Dreamworld as an incentive to use the taxpayer-funded service designed for those needing urgent medical care.
NSW
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A HOME-DOCTOR company is under investigation for offering 10,000 tickets to Dreamworld as an incentive to use the taxpayer-funded service designed for those needing urgent medical care.
Dial A Home Doctor also faces an inquiry into whether it promoted bulk-billed at-home doctor visits on its website as convenient rather than for those in genuine clinical need.
A promotion run by the company, A Night @ Dreamworld, offered 10,000 tickets to the theme park.
Dial A Home Doctor collected the contact details of the entrants and, in its terms and conditions, stated the information would be used for “future marketing and promotional purposes”.
Health Minister Greg Hunt has asked for an “urgent investigation” by the Medicare Integrity Division, which is already looking into the practices of other after-hours doctor services.
“The Dreamworld promotion is very concerning and the department will investigate if it falls outside the rules of Medicare,” Mr Hunt said.
“If the rules have been broken then the department has the option to impose a partial or full disqualification from operating.”
The government subsidises urgent after-hours doctor visits with around $250 million a year. But there have been serious concerns the Medicare service has been abused by companies seeking to make a profit and promoting the free-services as convenient.
Dial a Home Doctor executive chairman Zaffar Khan denied that the Dreamworld giveaway was an inducement.
“We wanted to have a community event for families to increase awareness of how the after-hours service works and reiterate the message that we support GPs and in no way replace them,” Mr Khan said.
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He said he had already destroyed the contact details of people who signed up to go to Dreamworld.
But Royal Australian College of General Practitioners president Bastian Seidel slammed the promotion, saying the money should be allocated for better health services.
“This kind of inappropriate direct advertising is unfortunate,” he said. “Money should be allocated for better health services for patients, training and education of doctors, not for joy rides. It’s healthcare, not a circus,” he said.