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Telehealth services to become a permanent part of healthcare system, following COVID-19 success
By political reporter Jake Evans

Posted 55m ago55 minutes ago, updated 34m ago34 minutes ago

The government has committed to funding a permanent telehealth service.(Unsplash)
Telehealth services that connected millions of Australians to their doctors and kept people safely at home throughout the pandemic are set to be made a permanent feature of the country's health care system.

Key points:

• More than $100 million will be spent to make telehealth services permanent
• More than 16 million Australians have used telehealth throughout the pandemic
• The service has been considered vital to Australia's success in responding to COVID

The federal government has announced a $309 million package for primary health care, which includes making the virtual service permanent.

Health Minister Greg Hunt said telehealth had been a "quiet revolution" to the healthcare system and had been critical to Australia's success in limiting the spread of COVID.

"It has changed the way Australians are able to access healthcare," Mr Hunt said.

Telehealth services were quickly stood up by the government in less than a fortnight to serve as a temporary support through the pandemic.

Since then, there have been more than 86 million telehealth consultations.

The government has paid out more than $4.4 billion on Medicare benefits accessed through telehealth.

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The service was established to limit in-person contact throughout the pandemic but has since proven invaluable for people with mobility issues, remote and rural Australians and people who simply struggled to find time out of work to see a doctor.

"There is a very important role for face to face [care], but equally that supplementary role for telehealth can give people access when they need it appropriate to their circumstances," Mr Hunt said.

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The government will commit $106 million to make the service permanent, with the existing arrangements to be maintained.

The head of the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners Karen Price said the announcement of a permanent telehealth service was a "wonderful day in the history of general practice".

"The era-defining episode of COVID has served to highlight just how intertwined health service delivery is with the health of the nation," Dr Price said.

"Telehealth has been a remarkable and innovative solution which enabled our country to stay as safe as possible."

Dr Price said it was still better for patients to see health professionals in person where possible.

But she said beyond COVID, telehealth would help to deliver "sorely needed" services to regional and rural Australia, and was an essential service for people who had trouble getting to a doctor, or only needed to see a GP for a minor issue.