The Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP) welcomes a new report, which shows the impact of Covid-19 on access to care in Australia and highlights the value of telehealth and telephone consultations.
The Medicine Insight, General Practice Insights report analysed data from 458 general practices and 4026 GPs from March to December 2020 to assess the impact of Covid-19 and telehealth on access to care in Australia.
- The report found that practices adapted quickly to the introduction of telehealth, and patients consulted their GP more often in 2020 compared to 2019.
- While the number of in-person MBS consultations billed to Medicare in 2020 was lower than in 2019, when telehealth was included, the number of all billed consultations was 11% higher – 8.6 million in 2020, compared to 7.7 million in 2019.
- The report also highlights the value of telephone services. Almost all telehealth services were provided by telephone, 95%, whereas video made up a fraction of services.
RACGP President Dr Karen Price says the report highlights the value of telehealth and telephone consultations in particular.
Dr Price says that the introduction of telehealth in 2020, “ensured GPs could continue providing essential care to patients in challenging times, throughout Covid-19 outbreaks and lockdowns”.
“We could have been in a much worse position today without the introduction of Medicare rebates for telehealth in 2020,” she adds.
“The report shows Australia escaped the major decline in primary care services other countries experienced in lockdown, and the associated impacts on patient health and our healthcare system, thanks to telehealth.
“At the beginning of the pandemic, medical testing rates and prescribing of medicines for chronic conditions fell sharply but returned to pre-pandemic levels after telehealth was introduced.
“Importantly, some conditions were treated even more frequently, including mental health. Mental health services were highest in July 2020 when Victoria’s second wave peaked – which is no surprise as GPs have seen a significant escalation in mental health concerns during the pandemic.”
Dr Price says the finding that telephone consultations made up the bulk of telehealth services was a clear sign of their importance.
“The RACGP has long expressed the importance of telephone consultations as part of patient care, and this is welcome recognition of their value for patients.”
“This is why the RACGP is calling on the Federal Government to make Medicare items for longer telephone consultations, mental health, and GP management plans part of the permanent telehealth model.”
