Helen and Korrie Kuiper consider taking a trip to a doctor as challenging.
They used to travel 45 minutes from their home in Bredbo in New South Wales to the nearest doctor. The pair had no choice at all.
Korrie underwent triple-bypass surgery that necessitates him to be checked by a doctor.
When the pandemic hit, the pair followed orders from their GP to not leave the town.
Telehealth as an advantage
In March, the federal government pumped almost $670 million to fund rebates for telehealth consultations.
Helen and Korrie were able to immediately access the service.
They said that it made healthcare more accessible to them and less time-consuming.
GPs adapted quickly to pandemic healthcare
The transition to telehealth was a challenge to the medical industry. Telehealth requires strenuous upskilling and dependence on unfamiliar technology.
Michael Wright, a GP in Sydney said that the transition to telehealth is a bit overwhelming for him.
He said that as they try to provide safer healthcare, they should be able to adapt to the new business model designed for telehealth.
The government subsidies provided patients the capacity to access the new program.
Research from the Melbourne Institute showed that telehealth consultations accounted for more than a third of all health consultations in April and May.
It also reduced the strain on the demands for personal protective equipment, which wasn’t too available at that time.
Dr. Wright said that they experienced a shortage of PPE’s during that period. However, telehealth was able to maintain it since patients were not needed to physically attend practices.
Easing mandatory bulk-billing rules for GPs
Practitioners were required to bulk bill for consults when telehealth services began to roll out in March.
In April, charging a gap was given back to specialists and Allied Health Professionals. GPs can only bulk bill certain patient groups such as concession holders, children under 16, and the elderly who have a higher likelihood to contract COVID-19.
Federal Minister Greg Hunt announced a $2 billion six-month extension to telehealth subsidies which will give GPs enough freedom to charge the gap for telehealth services.
Melbourne GP Vyom Sharma said that the bulk billing requirement had been restrictive.
He said that the former rules were not sustainable for them.
Meanwhile, Helen and Korrie expressed relief upon learning the program extension. This would alleviate their worries about accessing healthcare for a much longer period.
