InstantScripts owner Wesfarmers Health is the third major industry player to release telehealth guidelines this year.
Australia’s telehealth sector has been inundated with standards, guidelines and codes of practice over the last few months, and retail giant Wesfarmers Health is the latest to wade in.
The trend started in May, with online-only telehealth startup Eucalyptus putting out what it called “best practice principles” for the industry.
In June, an industry group convened by medicinal cannabis-focused telehealth corporate Montu launched a draft set of “C.A.R.E. principles”.
AHPRA and the medical board do have official guidelines for telehealth consults, but these were last updated in 2023 and only contain a relatively small section covering asynchronous telehealth consults in situations where the provider has never had a face-to-face consult with the patient.
These types of consults – where the patient and practitioner have never met – are the bread-and-butter of online-only clinics like Eucalyptus’ Juniper and Montu’s Alternaleaf.
The latest entry in the telehealth guideline pantheon came last week, when InstantScripts owner Wesfarmers Health put out a release promoting its new telehealth code of practice.
It touted the code as “the first of its kind in Australia” and said that it would apply across all state and territories delivering Wesfarmers Health telehealth services.
Here’s how it compares to the two other guideline documents.
What’s the same
On a broader level, the Wesfarmers Health code covers the same beats as the other two documents.
All three cover clinical governance, clinical safety and data protection.
All three stress that telehealth providers must avoid commercial conflict of interest and make independent prescribing and treatment decisions.
All three groups also championed continuity of care, with statements across each document to the effect of “all practitioners must ensure the accuracy, completeness and currency of electronic health records”, specifically mentioning My Health Record usage.
What’s different
The Wesfarmers Health document is longer than the other two and includes more granular detail on operations.
It is the first to lay out a perspective on AI in telehealth, noting that AI tools like clinical note-takers can’t be relied on for accuracy or decision-making, that patients must fully consent and that systems be established to monitor ongoing efficacy.
Related
The asynchronous prescribing principles include a mandatory real-time consultation for any request involving a different medication or clinical concern as well as a mandatory real-time consult at least once every 12 months.
It also dictates “clear communication to patients that the service is intended for use when they are unable to access their regular GP” and that prescriptions be written at limited quantities to ensure appropriate follow-up.
The minimum standards for issuing a medical certificate during an asynchronous consult, meanwhile, mention “AI-driven symptom detection” that identifies cases requiring escalation to urgent real-time consults.
Wesfarmers Health clinical governance advisory council chair Debora Picone wrote in the foreword that the code “establishes high industry standards, ensuring that our telehealth services operate with excellence, integrity, and patient-centred care at their core”.
“When privately funded, telehealth services also alleviate financial strain on the public healthcare system, enabling resources to be directed toward critical and emergency care,” Ms Picone said.
“Telehealth is designed to complement, not replace, traditional healthcare relationships.
“It supports patients by offering an alternative avenue for care while maintaining strong connections with general practitioners, pharmacists, and allied health professionals.”
Wesfarmers Health is one of several telehealth corporates to join a Patients Australia-led consortium, which is set to release further guidance this year.
