Ask a Doctor’ bridges gap between face-to-face consults for Australian women seeking professional health advice when planning a pregnancy.
A free online GP service called ‘Ask a Doctor’ has been launched by Elevit to provide Australian women who are planning a baby with on-demand access to healthcare professionals.
Sponsored by Elevit, and accessible via elevit.com.au/askadoctor, the service was developed in partnership with independent provider Meeting Doctors and is operated by qualified Australian GPs.
With a third of women aged 25-44 (32%) saying they don’t have enough time to attend health checks or appointments, Elevit’s Ask a Doctor is expected to help make pre-conception care more accessible to women.
The service guarantees a response within two minutes during operating hours (9 am -5 pm AET), along with the option to upload images and documents as part of their query.
As part of Elevit’s commitment to supporting mothers in giving their babies the best start to life, over the next 12 months Elevit will be trialling and sponsoring the service, learning from users, and adjusting the service along the way.
Clinical evidence and RACGP guidelines support the role of pre-conception care for optimal outcomes in pregnancy, and for life-long health and the wide-ranging benefits they provide for both women and babies.
Dr Preeya Alexander, a Melbourne-based GP with a special interest in women’s health, says a platform dedicated to women planning a pregnancy and designed to amplify pre-conception care conversations is a welcome arrival to the growing telehealth scene and seamlessly complements face-to-face interactions.
“While we know that a healthy baby starts even before conception, the fact is that only one in two Australian women are currently having pre-conception care conversations with their GP,” says Dr Alexander.
“In my own clinic, I find that a lot of women are not aware of preconception care, the notion of optimising health before conception even occurs, but preconception care can significantly and positively change the outcomes for both Mum and baby during pregnancy.
“For instance, we can address and optimise health issues such as asthma and diabetes prior to conception to increase the chances of a successful pregnancy, we can review medications to ensure we avoid problematic ones for foetal development and the list goes on.
“Preconception care is just so important and it is devastating that so many Australian women are still missing out.
“Delayed GP access contributes to the challenge but that’s the beauty of the provision of digital health – we can greatly enhance pre-conception education and communication between women and GPs.
“By providing easy online access to reliable, expert advice about preparing the body for pregnancy, women are better equipped to make informed choices based on professional medical advice and guidance,” she adds.
It’s hoped that the service will complement face-to-face GP consultations by providing on-demand answers for Australian women navigating family planning from trained professionals, wherever they are.
The launch of ‘Ask a Doctor’ comes at a time when telehealth has recently become a permanent feature in Australia’s healthcare with significant investment from the Government.
Since early March 2020, more than 86.3 million Covid-19 MBS telehealth services have been delivered to 16.1 million patients.
Jonas Marques, Senior Vice President & Cluster Head, Consumer Health Bayer ANZ, says telehealth has become especially important following the onset of Covid-19, with ‘Ask a Doctor’ providing another level of support for a particularly vulnerable group in society.
“There are many reasons why women may experience delays in getting to a doctor’s appointments with Covid-19 adding to the difficulty. Ask a Doctor provides a workaround to that,” says Mr Marques.
“Elevit supports women to give their babies the best possible start to life, and part of that is having early conversations about preparing for pregnancy.
“We are committed to helping women have access to information throughout the planning, conception and pregnancy journey,” he adds.
