The Health Council of Australia, the body responsible for regulating medical practitioners in the country, has made several amendments to its telehealth guidelines.
WHAT IT’S ABOUT
A major change in guidelines discourages the practice of prescribing without real-time face-to-face consultation, whether in person or via video or phone, which the panel declared is “bad practice”. “.
“This includes asynchronous drug requests notified by text, email, live chat, or online that do not take place in the context of a real-time continuous consultation and are based on patient completion. health questionnaire when a doctor has never spoken to a patient,” the manual reads.
If it is done in any of these situations, the physician is required to “explain how prescribing and administering the patient is appropriate and necessary.”
Meanwhile, the guidelines will also enable initial consultations with doctors using telehealth and the release of new and repeat scripts as part of telehealth consultations.
Based on a press release, these changes to the telehealth guidelines will go into effect on September 1.
WHY IT IMPORTANT
The Health Council proposed changes to telehealth rules last December to keep people safe for the first time telemedicine. It has been cracking down on practitioners who are conducting online prescribing deemed “unsafe” following reports of doctors prescribing addictive drugs through remote health.
Although the panel said it had reviewed the response to defend asynchronous prescribing, it maintained that “prescribing should not happen in isolation.”
Chair of the Medical Council, Dr. Anne Tonkin emphasized: “Prescribing medication is not a ticking exercise. It relies on the skill and judgment of the physician, having consulted the patient and recognize that prescription drugs can be harmful when not used properly.”
The revised guidelines recognize telehealth as an “important feature of healthcare in Australia.” It highlights that real-time doctor-patient consultation is key to safe prescribing. Dr Tonkin states: “A physician who does not consult directly with patients and does not have access to their medical records cannot make an accurate and safe clinical judgment.” .
BIGGER BACKGROUND
In March, the The Health Software Industry Association, the health technology industry’s highest body, has called on the Medical Council to halt changes to telehealth guidance over fears of “serious” consequences. Unintended”. The organization is particularly concerned about disallowing asynchronous prescribing, which it claims is an “analog approach in the digital world”. It maintains that regulatory rules for the use of technology should not preclude physicians from exercising professional judgment.
ON PROFILE
“Telehealth has always been here. It plays a vital role in healthcare in Australia and has opened up great opportunities to improve access and delivery of care, including for patients in Australia. rural and remote areas as well as those in need.The interaction between doctors and their patients is an important element in all consultations, including telehealth, ‘ said Dr. Tonkin.
