Montu, which has convened a telehealth sector working group, is the subject of ongoing legal action by the TGA in relation to potential advertising breaches.
Some of the more obscure players in the telehealth field have banded together to form a new working group, spearheaded by medicinal cannabis group Montu and chaired by former federal health minister Greg Hunt.
The group, which simply refers to itself as the Telehealth Sector Working Group, bears a similar name to the Department of Health and Aged Care-commissioned Telehealth Working Group.
There does not appear to be any crossover in membership between the two, nor is the Montu-led group government-affiliated.
Montu, which owns telehealth clinic Alternaleaf and clinical education platform Saged, is subject to legal action initiated by the TGA in 2024.
The therapeutic goods regulator alleged that Montu and Alternaleaf unlawfully advertised medicinal cannabis on websites and social media by using terms like “plant medicine” to promote the online clinic.
Montu also potentially promoted the use of medicinal cannabis for the treatment of serious diseases, conditions and disorders by allegedly implying that medicinal cannabis was TGA-approved, was “magical or miraculous” without side-effects and included health practitioner endorsements.
If the regulator wins in court, it will seek declarations and financial penalties against Montu, Alternaleaf and company director Christopher Strauch.
In response to a question on the similarity between the name Telehealth Sector Working Group and Telehealth Working Group, a spokesman for Montu said its “ambition is wider in scope”.
“While the name may echo earlier work, this is a completely independent initiative,” they told The Medical Republic.
“The previous Telehealth Working Group focused on reviewing telehealth within the context of the Medicare Benefits Schedule – a narrow but important scope.
“In contrast, the Telehealth Sector Working Group brings together a far broader coalition of stakeholders: industry leaders, clinicians, policy experts, and patient advocates, all focused on the future of virtual care more broadly.”
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The spokesman stressed that, while Montu was the convenor, it was just one of several member organisations.
“This group of experts, sector leaders and patients has come together because we believe that systemic reform requires collaboration – across providers, policy experts, clinicians, and advocates,” they said.
Other members of the new telehealth working group include the Medical Technology Association of Australia, the Members Health Fund Alliance and Rare Cancers Australia.
The original press release also listed Honeysuckle Health, a joint venture between health fund nib and American managed care provider and insurer Cigna, as a working group member.
Eucalyptus, arguably Australia’s most recognisable telehealth group, is not a member of the working group. Neither is the RACGP.
Dr Matthew Vickers, the Eucalyptus clinical director, told TMR that it supported the progression of industry standards more generally.
RACGP president Dr Michael Wright said the college had been developing standards for Australian primary healthcare settings for more than 30 years, and that initiatives within primary care must be fit-for-purpose.
“Unfortunately, the proliferation of direct-to-consumer telehealth services has resulted in some instances of poor and inappropriate care,” Dr Wright told TMR.
“Companies have been fined as a result, so we caution patients about turning to these types of services.
“Fundamentally, all Australians deserve access to a high-quality, comprehensive general practice from the specialist GP who knows them best.”
Telehealth Sector Working Group chair and former Health Minister Greg Hunt told TMR’s sister publication Health Services Daily that the goal was not to “reinvent the wheel”.
“Our aim is to build on existing strengths in the system and ensure that our recommendations are informed by real-world experience, while remaining flexible enough to support innovation and evolution over time,” he said.
“We are fortunate in that Australia now has one of the most comprehensive telehealth systems in the world, as a channel of both Medicare and private services that compliments and supports face to face and remote monitoring.”
The virtual health sector doesn’t currently have a specific peak representative body, or a specific set of standards by which they are regulated.
Medicare regulation only extends to services where a practitioner has billed Medicare; many online-only telehealth clinics work entirely outside of the Medicare system.
In late 2024, AHPRA launched a rapid regulatory response oversight group.
One of its key focus areas is monitoring the rise in health services offering access to specific drugs such as medicinal cannabis and weight-loss medications.
The Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care is in the process of developing standards based on its digital mental health standards, and the Australian Council on Healthcare Standards has the EQuIP6 standards for services that don’t fit into the other existing healthcare standards.
