The booking engine has announced it will reintroduce the telehealth program that triggered customer ire in July.
Booking engine HotDoc says it has worked with GPs and practice managers to revamp its Telehealth On Demand feature to give patients “a trusted interim care option” that connects back to their regular doctor.
When it is relaunched on Wednesday 13 August, patients will be able to access it through HotDoc’s app and website “only after exhausting all other options” for an appointment with their regular practice.
The original pilot began in February of this year but was abruptly paused by HotDoc in mid-July following backlash from the GP and practice manager community.
It initially worked by identifying patients trying to book a “low complexity” appointment at their regular GP clinic and displaying an option for a same-day telehealth appointment with a GP at a different practice.
GPs and practice managers were concerned that HotDoc – a service they pay to use – was diverting patients away from their regular practice.
Announcing the revamped version of the pilot today, HotDoc confirmed the relaunched product would only be available when a patient started a booking from the HotDoc home screen, never on the practice page, practitioner page, widget or practice website.
Technically, this is not a change; when asked by The Medical Republic, HotDoc said that Telehealth on Demand had never appeared as an option on the practice page, practitioner page, widget or practice website.
Related
“We do not override or insert Telehealth On Demand above your practice in the booking hierarchy,” HotDoc’s new telehealth guidelines read.
“If a patient chooses the service, it is because they have exhausted other options on the platform, not because they’ve been nudged or redirected.”
According to the pilot webpage, patients will also have to specifically acknowledge that their usual GP or practice is unavailable before completing a short screening questionnaire to confirm their suitability for virtual care.
If deemed suitable, the patient will be “matched” with an available telehealth doctor within the HotDoc network.
The HotDoc website indicates that all consults will be conducted by “fully qualified” Australian doctors. In another section on the same page, it says the scheme will “support new and early-career doctors” to grow their patient base.
Patients will also be shown availability with their regular practice first and be told explicitly that the telehealth option is an alternative treatment coming from outside their regular care team.
HotDoc said it will encourage patients to follow up with their home practice and feed consult summaries back to the patient’s regular doctor.
“This relaunch reflects direct feedback from GPs, practice managers, advisory groups and industry leaders into every stage of the redesign,” HotDoc said.
“We’re committed to ongoing consultation as the service evolves.”
