New telehealth servicesAll Posts are now available across the country, allowing Australians to access bulk-billed telehealth consultations with their doctors – a measure that was implemented by the government earlier this week to combat the spread of the coronavirus pandemic.

Patients can now access these telehealth consultations for a range of appointments, with the following practitioners: GPs, psychologists, midwives, nurses, psychiatrists, paediatricians, speech pathologists, physiotherapists and occupational therapists for services for children with developmental delays, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Practitioners, Social workers and dietitians for eating disorders. Eligible for this new service are patients located in Australia, eligible for Medicare and not an admitted patient to a hospital.

How the telehealth service works

In an effort to understand exactly how the new telehealth service works, Neos Kosmos contacted Burnley Street Medical Centre in Richmond, where the new system has been operating successfully since Monday.

The doctors consulting at the Burnley Street Medical Centre are of Greek descent, and are well known to the Greek community in Melbourne

“It has been a very simple transition for us”, Dr Bill Arsenakis told Neos Kosmos.

“It is not a new method for us or our patients. We have been doing this for many years in order to accommodate our elderly patients who do not have the capacity, at times, to visit to our medical centre. Now that the telehealth service is available, our patients feel even more comfortable using the service to call us on the phone about their health issues or to get their prescriptions and referrals”.

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Dr Arsenakis says it is not necessary to have an internet connection to use the telehealth service available at the medical centre.

“There are many elderly patients who do not have access to the internet so a video call would not be possible. They can just phone in and tell us their health issue, and if it is something we can sort out over the phone, our receptionists will book an appointment for their telehealth examination.

We use FaceTime and Skype for patients that would like an appointment via a video call. They just need to book an appointment with the receptionist, the same way they would under previous circumstances”.

Both the doctors and the patients need to be more detailed and aware during their telehealth consultations, as the physical distance can be a disadvantage for a thorough examination.

“We take into account the fact that there is a physical distance, so if we are not satisfied by the examination or the diagnosis and we feel that there is need for a face-to-face consultation, we would probably ask them to come in. If they are elderly or high-risk we would rather go to their homes for a consultation, to avoid the risk of them contracting coronavirus,” he said.

“It is important to stress to our patients who use the tele-health service that if for any reason they are not satisfied with the examination they should not hesitate to call back for further consultation, as we have to be aware that not everything can be examined over the phone”.

Since the establishment of the new service, Burnley Street Medical Centre has noticed a 50 per cent decrease in patient visitation.

“We are very happy about this. It means that as of now, patients who have a serious reason to come in for a face-to-face consultation need not worry about contracting the virus, since there much fewer people in the waiting room.”

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Suspect cases of coronavirus are referred to a clinic for testing.

“In the event that a patient has serious symptoms similar to Covid-19, we would refer them to a clinic for testing. If the symptoms are mild we would probably ask them to come in and wait for the consultation in our driveway. Using protective gear we will examine them in their car, so as to avoid spreading the disease in our medical centre,” he said.