Telehealth: a game of snakes and ladders
Telehealth services were rolled out in the context of the COVID-19 global pandemic as Australia was hit with the first wave. By this stage, Australians had been exposed to countless images of patients and their treating teams falling victim to COVID-19 across the globe. Unique MBS item numbers were introduced to allow general practitioners and specialist doctors to access Medicare without a face-to-face consultation.
Most general practices and practitioners adopted the policy quite quickly and defaulted to using the telephone to assess, diagnose and manage their patients. Other specialists may have incorporated the use of interactive devices and software such as Zoom. Regardless of the technology, we had all entered a brave new world of delivering patient care, in the hope that the spread of this highly contagious virus would be curtailed.
The federal government celebrated this unique initiative, which had been used in various versions across other countries such as the UK for several years. What they did not announce, however, and what came as a great shock to providers of medical services, was the mandatory bulk-billing of most patients for telehealth. Overnight, some practices and GP contractors saw their income fall by up to 60%. In addition, they were requested to do a lot more for a lot less because of the high administrative burden.