The guidance for telehealth and virtual care has been updated to protect safety and ensure patients receive high-quality care – whether it be in-person, over-the-phone or online.
The guidance expands advice for telehealth prescribers, highlighting poor practice concerns around prescribing that relies on text, email or online questionnaires to assess a patients’ needs rather than a face-to-face consultation.
According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, one in four people had a telehealth consultation in 2023-24.
“Telehealth has been great in making it easier for people to get the care they need. We just want to make sure that convenience doesn’t come at the cost of safety or quality,” said Justin Untersteine, Chief Executive Officer of the Australian Health Practitioner Agency (Ahpra).
The guidance reinforces to practitioners that any healthcare provided through telehealth is the practitioner’s responsibility and not the employer’s
The updated guidance is consistent with the Medical Board of Australia’s guidelines, Telehealth consultations with patients, and confirms there are the same expectations for all practitioners when providing safe and effective telehealth services.
The guidance reinforces to practitioners that any healthcare provided through telehealth is the practitioner’s responsibility and not the employer’s. Practitioners working in telehealth-only clinics, particularly those focussed on single treatments or medicines, are encouraged to review the clinical governance framework to ensure the care they provide isn’t compromised by commercial gain or convenience.
According to Ahpra, good telehealth practices include:
- Sharing information in a way the patient can understand and access,
- Getting all necessary medical history and background information to make a diagnosis,
- Gaining informed consent, especially when using any supporting technologies like AI scribes,
- Only prescribing if you’ve consulted with the patient face-to-face before,
- Letting patients know when telehealth may not meet their care needs, and when they may need to access other options like in-person appointments, and
- Confirming the patient is who they say they are.
National Boards have also developed case studies for safe use of telehealth, identifying common mistakes like prescribing in an initial telehealth consultation or opting for telehealth when a face-to-face consultation is necessary.
Ahpra will continue to work closely with other regulators to monitor the growth and use of telehealth and whether further regulation needed.
The growth in telehealth services has been accompanied by an increase in concerns raised with Ahpra, with 586 notifications recorded in 2024-25. Aphra noted that all matters are taken seriously, and recent tribunal decisions have reaffirmed that the same professional obligations apply whether consultations are in-person or by telehealth.
