Patient receives a Medicare-rebated telehealth consultation

Telehealth removed distance from the consultation and left two things in place: a rule that the patient must already have a relationship with the practice, and eight sets of state law governing what can be prescribed at the end of it.

healthA patient seeking a GP telehealth consultation with a Medicare rebate, including where a prescription follows draft compare across jurisdictions

4 days elapsed
longest dependent chain

6 discrete steps
across 2 bodies

0% waiting on availability
scheduling or queue, not assessment

0 days saved by concurrency
vs. 4 if run end-to-end

Where the time goes

Critical-path days only. Steps that run alongside others are real work but do not lengthen the process, so counting them here would overstate the prize.

third party		3d	Waiting on an external body outside the regulator's control.
assessment		1d	Someone is genuinely evaluating the merits.

The process, step by step

Applies when: A patient seeks a telehealth consultation attracting a Medicare benefit.

#	Step	Who	Why it waits	Clock	Typical	Basis
1	Establish an eligible telehealth practitioner relationship registration A face-to-face MBS service with the same practitioner or practice in the preceding 12 months, or registration with the practice under MyMedicare.	Department of Health, Disability and Ageing	assessment	—	0 published	Health Insurance Act 1973 (Cth) and the Medicare Benefits Schedule
2	Register with the practice under MyMedicare registration only if triggered Voluntary patient registration with a general practice, which satisfies the relationship requirement and unlocks additional incentives. Triggered when: The patient has no qualifying face-to-face service in the preceding 12 months and registers instead. after Establish an eligible telehealth practitioner relationship	Department of Health, Disability and Ageing	applicant	—	30 published	—
3	Book and attend the consultation application after Establish an eligible telehealth practitioner relationship 1d slack	—	third party	—	3 estimate	—
4	The consultation assessment A real-time video or telephone consultation. after Book and attend the consultation 1d slack	—	assessment	—	0 estimate	—
5	Medicare benefit claimed fee after The consultation	Department of Health, Disability and Ageing	assessment	—	1 published	—
6	Prescribe, where the medicine is controlled decision only if triggered Schedule 8 prescribing is governed by the law of the patient's state, including permits, real-time monitoring checks and restrictions on new patients. Triggered when: The consultation results in a prescription for a Schedule 8 controlled medicine. after The consultation	State medicines and poisons regulator	assessment	—	14 estimate	—

on the critical path scheduling/queue = delay not caused by the assessment itself

Proposed changes

Exempt prison health services from the Medicare exclusion remove ~60d
Section 19(2) of the Health Insurance Act keeps people in custody outside Medicare and the PBS. It was written to prevent double-dipping between governments. Its effect on prisons is that continuity of care breaks at both ends, for the population that uses health care most.
One consultation, four jurisdictions, and no clear answer about whose law applies merge ~14d
The practitioner is registered nationally. The medicine is regulated by the state. In a telehealth consultation the doctor, the platform, the patient and the dispensing pharmacy can be in four different jurisdictions, and published guidance acknowledges it is complex and confusing to know which law applies.
Telehealth is least available to people without a regular doctor threshold
Medicare-rebated telehealth requires a face-to-face visit with the practice in the last 12 months, or MyMedicare registration. About one in ten patients has registered, and about one in three has heard of it. The exemption from a relationship requirement is itself an opt-in relationship.

Sources

Department of Health, AskMBS advisory on eligible telehealth practitioner requirements, updated 1 November 2025 — previously the established clinical relationship requirement
From 1 November 2025, MyMedicare-registered patients are exempt from the 12 month face-to-face requirement, and the triple bulk billing incentive for longer telehealth consultations extended to all Medicare-eligible patients registered through MyMedicare
23 new MBS telehealth items from 1 July 2025 (18 video, 5 telephone), primarily for GP Chronic Condition Management Plans
MyMedicare: more than 2.6 million patients registered as at 19 March 2025, about one in ten patients, with about one third of Medicare card holders aware of the scheme
State and territory Schedule 8 prescribing requirements, including permits, real-time prescription monitoring and restrictions on prescribing to new patients by telehealth

Something wrong here?

This page is wrong in some way -- every page like it is. If you have run this process, the most useful thing you can do is tell us which step took longer than we say and why. Edit data/processes/au-telehealth-consult.toml and open a pull request, or send us the correction.