Telehealth: what it is good for, and what still needs the room.

Telehealth stopped being an emergency measure some years ago and settled into being a normal part of general practice. Used for the right things it saves a trip, a day off work, and sometimes a long drive. Used for the wrong things it wastes an appointment and you end up coming in anyway.

What works well by phone or video

• Test results that need explaining, where nothing needs examining.
• Repeat prescriptions for a stable, ongoing medicine.
• Follow-up after a recent visit — checking whether a treatment is working.
• Mental health reviews, which many people find easier from home.
• Referral and paperwork discussions.
• Advice about whether something needs to be seen at all.
• Conversations that are mostly conversation — care plan reviews, treatment options, questions about a diagnosis.

It is particularly useful if you are on a roster and awake at odd hours, if you are caring for someone and cannot easily leave, or if you are unwell with something infectious and would rather not sit in a waiting room.

What still needs you in the room

The limitation is simple: a doctor cannot examine you down a phone line.

• Anything that needs to be looked at closely — a rash, a lump, a mole, a wound. A photograph helps but is not the same as an examination.
• Anything requiring a stethoscope — a cough that has changed, a wheeze, breathlessness on exertion.
• Abdominal pain. Examining an abdomen is central to working out what is going on.
• Ear pain, which needs the ear looked into.
• Anything needing a measurement — blood pressure, an ECG, spirometry, swabs, a blood test.
• Procedures and dressings, obviously.
• Skin checks, which are systematic and need to be done in person.
• New problems in young children, who are hard to assess remotely.
• Anything severe or fast-moving. If it is bad enough that you are wondering whether it is an emergency, it is not a telehealth problem.

Chest pain, pressure or tightness happening now, or sudden severe breathlessness, is not a telehealth problem and not an appointment — call 000.

The Medicare rule worth knowing

Medicare rebates for GP telehealth generally require that you have an existing relationship with the practice — in practice, that you have been seen face to face there within the previous twelve months. There are exemptions, and registering with MyMedicare changes how this applies for registered patients.

The practical upshot is that telehealth works best as part of ongoing care with a practice that knows you, rather than as a one-off with somewhere you have never attended. If you are unsure where you stand, ask reception when you book.

Getting the most out of it

A telehealth appointment is a real appointment. Prepare for it the way you would for sitting in the chair.

• Be somewhere private and quiet, with decent reception. Not driving. Not in a crib room with six other people.
• Have your Medicare card to hand.
• Have your medicines in front of you — the actual boxes are better than trying to remember names.
• Have pen and paper. You will be given instructions and you will not remember all of them.
• Have your pharmacy details ready if you are expecting a script.
• Write your questions down first, and say the main one at the start rather than at the end.
• Answer numbers you do not recognise around your appointment time — the clinic may not come up as the clinic.
• If you have a home blood pressure monitor, thermometer or glucose meter, take readings beforehand.

If it turns out you need to come in

Sometimes a phone appointment ends with the doctor saying you need to be seen. That is not a wasted appointment — it has established what the problem might be and how quickly it needs looking at, which means the face-to-face visit starts further along.

General information only. This article is general health information for anyone who finds it useful. It is not advice about your own situation and it does not replace a consultation with a doctor who knows you. If you are worried about a symptom, book an appointment or call us on (02) 6530 7404. Last reviewed 16 June 2026.