Updated guidance for telehealth and virtual care now available

Reflecting concerns around unethical practice and emerging business models focused more on profit than patient safety, the guidance for telehealth and virtual care has been updated, Ahpra has announced.

“Telehealth has been great in making it easier for people to get the care they need. We just want to make sure that convenience doesn’t come at the cost of safety or quality,” Ahpra CEO Justin Untersteiner said.

Expanding advice for telehealth prescribers and highlighting poor practice concerns around prescribing that relies on text, email or online questionnaires to assess a patient’s needs rather than a face-to-face, video or telephone consultation, the updated guidance is designed to ensure proper consultation and practitioner accountability, and includes new case studies to help practitioners avoid common telehealth pitfalls and mistakes.

Confirming there are the same expectations for all practitioners when providing safe and effective telehealth services, the updated guidance is consistent with the Medical Board of Australia’s guidelines, ‘Telehealth consultations with patients’. Reinforced in the guidance is that any health care provided through telehealth is the practitioner’s responsibility and not the employer’s.

“Practitioners working in telehealth-only clinics, particularly those focused on single treatments or medicines, are encouraged to review the clinical governance framework to ensure the care they provide isn’t compromised by commercial gain or convenience,” Ahpra advised. Ahpra also advised that good telehealth practices include:

• sharing information in a way the patient can understand and access;
• getting all necessary medical history and background information to make a diagnosis;
• gaining informed consent, especially when using any supporting technologies like AI scribes;
• only prescribing where you’ve had a face-to-face, video or telephone consultation with the patient;
• letting patients know when telehealth may not meet their care needs, and when they may need to access other options like in-person appointments; and
• confirming the patient is who they say they are.
   

“As a health practitioner, your duty of care to your patients should always come first. That responsibility sits with you — not your employer,” said Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia Chair Adjunct Professor Veronica Casey.

“According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, one in four people had a telehealth consultation in 2023–24. Ahpra will continue to work closely with other regulators to monitor the growth and use of telehealth and whether further regulation needed,” Ahpra said.

“The growth in telehealth services has been accompanied by an increase in concerns raised with Ahpra, with 586 notifications recorded in 2024–25. All matters are taken seriously, and recent tribunal decisions have reaffirmed that the same professional obligations apply whether consultations are in person or by telehealth.”

You can access the updated guidance here, via the Ahpra website.

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