Telehealth triggers GP boycott call

Doctors are urging a rethink on access to telehealth consultations, warning pop-up clinics could undermine long-term health.

Health consultant Shane Solomon.

Doctors are urging a rethink on access to telehealth consultations, warning that a proliferation of pop-up clinics where patients can access prescription drugs without visiting a GP could undermine patients­’ long-term health.

Pharmaceutical chain Priceline has raised the ire of GPs by setting up an instant script service that is being described as a “pharmacy vending machine”.

While Priceline’s script service does not attract a Medicare rebate unless there is an associated phone consultation, some doctors are now also boycotting Chemist Warehouse, which is marketing a bulk-billed “instant consult” telehealth service to consumers who present with scripts.

Chemist Warehouse’s online advertisement for telehealth.

Chemist Warehouse customers are urged to download an Instant­ Consult app and connect to a doctor within 15 minutes if they require a script. The service is bulk-billed under telehealth,

which has been expanded to be ­effectively unrestricted since the COVID-19 pandemic began. There have been an extraordinary 14 million telehealth consultations billed to Medicare since March.

The Australian Medical Asso­c­iation called for telehealth to be reined in, with concerns that pop-up online clinics were jeopardising patients’ relationships with their regular GP and interfering with continuity of care. “Some of these services are simply opportunistic and are clearly seeking to fully exploit­ the options available in the current legislation to the maximum financial gain,” said AMA president Tony Bartone.

“These are services focusing totally­ on convenience and access and putting questions about quality and long-term best interests of the patient as a second or even third distant consideration.”

Dr Bartone has been in discussions with the federal government about restricting Medicare rebates for telehealth to consultations undertak­en by a patient’s regular practitioner. A spokesman for Health Minister Greg Hunt said “the integrity and quality of telehealth services are being monitored by the Department of Health”.

The Royal Australian College of General Practitioners urged patients to only utilise telehealth services offered by their regular GP.

“Ignore the Chemist Warehouse flyers, they will only point you in the direction of call-centre consults with a GP you have never spoken to before who may be talking to you from the other side of the country,” said RACGP president Harry Nespolon. “It might seem like a convenient quick fix but the quality of care is not what you’d get from your usual GP.

“There are additional concerns regarding privacy and the in­appropriate and unapproved use of patient data, both during and after a consult.

“Similarly, the Priceline ‘Scripts Now’ service is a recipe for disaster. This service, like the corporate telehealth pop-ups, risks jeopardising your medical records and compromising your health in coming months or later in life.”

Chemist Warehouse declined to comment but Priceline defended its Scripts Now service as operating “to the highest clinical govern­ance principles”.

“Scripts Now provides Priceline Pharmacy customers with a safe repeat prescription service at times they cannot access their usual GP,” a spokesman said.

“The repeat prescription servic­e is not eligible for Medicare rebates. The types of scripts provided and volume are strictly limited, as is the frequency with which Scripts Now can be accessed.

“The service is provided by Australian registered doctors who review every request before deciding whether or not to issue a prescripti­on. We remain confident this is a safe and valuable service for our customers provided by qualified doctors.

“Patient care is always the focus and an online doctor is available for phone or video consultation.”

While Priceline assures patients­ their data is secure, stories have emerged of telehealth pop-up services passing patient details to market researchers.

Health consultant Shane Solomon, who helped set up Telstra Health’s telemedicine service, said his private information was passed to a market researcher after he consulted a telehealth pop-up ­service.

“This is a breakdown of trust in primary healthcare,” said Mr ­Solomon, who is the chairman of the independent Hospital Pricing Authority.

The unrestricted access for patient­s to telehealth is due to be reviewed in September.