Online doctors cannot ‘tick and flick’ their patients

The impending decision this week by the Medical Board of Australia to ban online doctors from prescribing drugs to patients they have never spoken to, let alone properly consulted, is a welcome and necessary response to the more troubling elements of the boom in the use of telehealth platforms in Australia.

As the Herald revealed this month, online start-up companies have exploited lax regulations to allow patients they have never seen to obtain medicine with the click of a button, simply by filling out a questionnaire. No real-time assessment of the patient has been required, there is often no verification of the claims the patient makes about their condition or, often, their identity, and there are no face-to-face reviews for patients prescribed medication such as pain relief for extended periods.

The chair of the Medical Board of Australia, Dr Anne Tonkin, has warned that it is only a matter of time before these “tick and flick” prescribing practices lead to a patient dying or suffering serious harm. The Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency is investigating telehealth companies for their failure to address potential adverse reactions to the drugs they prescribe or their possible side effects.

These are serious developments that cannot be allowed to persist. They demonstrate that, once again, authorities responsible for protecting the public have been caught flat-footed by the turbocharging potential of the digital realm and the need for its impacts to be tightly monitored.

The popularity of telehealth exploded during the COVID-19 pandemic and its inherent convenience has ensured that it will continue to be a prominent part of the healthcare sector. But it is not just about customer convenience.

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There are expected to be 600 fewer GPs in Australia than needed this year, according to Deloitte Access Economics, and the shortfall will be closer to 11,000 within a decade. Telehealth can play a role in easing the strain on a primary healthcare system whose struggles continue to burden a public hospital system in crisis.

The telehealth start-ups that have emerged in this at-times dysfunctional environment say they are reducing the “friction” of getting a prescription, and there is no question that customer access to medication has needed to be smoother. The federal government acknowledged as much earlier this month when it doubled the amount of medicine a person can collect with each script from one month to two months’ supply for more than 320 listed products.

The government decision drew expected outrage from pharmacists, who, along with GPs, have long resisted disruption to their preferred practices. There will be costs, but this realignment of the playing field is sensible and needed.