30 June 2022

The Royal Australasian College of Physicians (RACP) says that the federal government’s decision to cut several specialist telephone telehealth items from the MBS on July 1 is a backwards step for Australia’s health system.

This morning the RACP urged the federal government to make an eleventh-hour decision to keep specialist telehealth items by phone as a permanent feature under the MBS.

RACP President Dr Jacqueline Small says, “This is a major disappointment for patients across the country whose access to specialist healthcare via phone has been restricted to short consultations only.

“Removing these phone telehealth items for specialist care is only going to put more pressure on a healthcare system that is already under significant strain.

“Telehealth is the critical bridge needed to connect communities to medical services and remove barriers to access.

“Patients who need some of the most care – such as the elderly, those with less advanced technical knowledge, some Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, some people living with disability, and people in rural and remote locations – are now at a high risk of being cut off from crucial aspects of care without the availability of phone telehealth for complex consultations. The best option for consultation length and modality should be always decided by the patient and the doctor, not by the government’s funding decisions.

“The pandemic showed us just how much we were able to rapidly transform Australia’s health system to continue giving people important and ongoing care. Unfortunately, this decision by the government has also shown how it can also be rapidly taken away.

“Telehealth is a key opportunity to improve healthcare delivery, but this potential has been severely diminished by the official decision made today.

“Phone consultations, especially, are preferred by many patients or necessitated by patient-specific circumstances, such as lack of access to quality broadband data, lack of confidence or capability in video software and technology, disability, geographical barriers, and inability to access in-person care.

“Without a viable solution to keep these communities properly serviced, there remains a chasm in the health system that will only widen if equitable and accessible healthcare is not addressed.”