Telehealth here to stay?

Australians lives have been drastically changed by the COVID-19 pandemic; just one example being the rapid adoption of telehealth.

Since March, Australian have been able to get GP consultations via video or phone and in Orange it seems patients have gladly taken up the opportunity.

Dr Thim Chen, Principal GP at the Wellness House, said that during the initial few weeks of the pandemic lockdown, more than 90 per cent of their appointments were conducted via telehealth. Now, with the immediate threat of the virus less prevalent, there is around a 50-50 split between in-person and telehealth consultations.

For the safety of patients and staff at the medical centre during this pandemic, telehealth has been a greatly beneficial tool, he said.

“Actually five coronavirus cases came to me for diagnosis by telehealth, so if it were not for telehealth I probably would have been exposed to these five patients and the medical centre would have been shut down for two weeks,” he said.

“So, it has been very, very helpful.”

Telehealth is very convenient for some patients, said Dr Chen although he stressed it is not suitable in every case.

“It is convenient for the patient, particularly the older ones that don't want to come out of the house in winter and some of them are saying we should have started it a long time ago,” he said.

“But still, you know, medicine is a science and an art. For me, I think I prefer to see the patient face to face… for repeating scripts and that sort of thing it is quite easy, but obviously it has its limitations. I mean, a skin cancer can't really be diagnosed by telehealth or a suspicion of a fracture, so I'm sitting on the fence. I think some patients we know would be good for telehealth and some patients really need to come face to face.”

In particular, Dr Chen said telehealth works best when there is already an established relationship between a GP and patient — something the federal government has addressed by limiting access to telehealth services under the Medicare Benefits Schedule (MBS) only to a patient’s regular GP or practice.

But given the enthusiasm with which doctors and patients around the country have taken to telehealth it looks set to remain a part of our health care system past the end of the current pandemic.

Especially given this statement from federal health minister Greg Hunt on Friday.

“I hope and intend for telehealth to be a positive legacy of this crisis and am already engaged with the medical community in planning a long-term future for telehealth,” Mr Hunt said.

And please remember, if you have any form of cold, fever, cough, sore throat or shortness of breath please make use of telehealth services and do not attend your local medical centre in person.