Prescribing medications outside of an in-person appointment or phone call with a GP is “unsafe” and should not be allowed, the RACGP has warned.
The College has released a position statement on telehealth-only services warning they do not provide the same quality of care that practitioners who also offer the option of in-person appointments do.
It holds the position that telehealth-only services must ensure prescribing is synchronous and does not take place without a real-time direct consultation, whether in-person, via video or telephone.
“Asynchronous requests for medicines communicated by text, email, live-chat, online or are based on the consumer completing a health questionnaire are unsafe outside of an existing and in person therapeutic relationship,” the statement reads.
While it is unclear whether there are services prescribing medications via text-based consultations alone, there are a number of online services which promote their use of fast and efficient online prescription request forms.
The College is concerned telehealth-only doctor services typically do not connect with a patient’s usual GP or the broader health system and were not focused on preventative health or chronic condition management, instead operating on a transactional basis.
It stated that telehealth-only providers should ensure they prioritise the patient’s usual GP or general practice and share information with them.
It believes such services typically focused on a specific product or service such as weight loss, sexual health or requests for medical certificates or medicinal cannabis.
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“The RACGP has significant concerns about the recent growth in telehealth only services which are providing access to targeted treatment pathways for specific issues, conditions or products,” the position statement reads.
“These services can undermine the therapeutic relationship between a patient and their usual GP, fragment care, and put patient safety at risk.”
While the RACGP recognised that patients may wish to use telehealth-only services to gain access to services not offered by their usual GP, it holds the position that such services can undermine the therapeutic relationship between a patient and their usual GP, fragment care, and put patient safety at risk.
The RACGP wants to see regulation around telehealth-only providers to be strengthened.
Ahpra’s guidelines on telehealth consultations state that prescribing or providing healthcare for a patient without a real-time direct consultation, whether in-person, via video or telephone, is not good practice and is not supported by the Medical Board.
“This includes asynchronous requests for medication communicated by text, email, live-chat or online that do not take place in the context of a real-time continuous consultation and are based on the patient completing a health questionnaire, when the practitioner has never spoken with the patient,” the guidelines state.
Ahpra’s position is that any practitioner who prescribes for patients in these circumstances must be able to explain how the prescribing and the management of the patient was appropriate and necessary in the circumstances.
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