An ‘online doctor service’ which allows people to get prescriptions and medical certificates, specialist referrals, and even medications delivered to a chosen address is subject to concerns that people using such services risk being misdiagnosed. Research shows that three out of five people use Google to diagnose symptoms to avoid seeing a GP and video-conferencing technology such as Skype has resulted in a rise in online consultations for a consumer society who has come to expect services on-demand.
One such online doctor service is Qoctor, which initially started out as Dr Sicknote in 2015. The new name has been chosen to reflect the additional services now being provided. Their medical certificate service costs $20.00, compared with a standard GP consultation costing around $50 with $37 being rebated through Medicare.
Qoctor claims to have saved over 10,000 hours for patients and more than $309,000 in costs to Medicare. Services are set to expand with online video consultations with GPs, as well as provide PBS prescriptions as well as the non-PBS prescriptions currently available.
How it works
When ordering medications for health conditions such as erectile dysfunction and contraception, patients are requested to agree that they have read and understood the medical information sheet and then answer some questions via an online questionnaire before making payment. Qoctor claims the questionnaire has been designed to ask the same questions a GP would ask on a face to face visit. According to Qoctor, Australian registered GPs review all questionnaires and that online doctors would tell a patient they need to have a physical examination or have testing done if deemed necessary.
Patient reviews include finding the service easy and convenient, that it saves on time and that the last thing patients want to do when they are unwell is go and sit in a medical office for an hour or two just to get a sick certificate to give to their employer.
Criticism
In Australia, employers can ask an employee to give evidence to confirm why they have been away from work. If an employee doesn’t provide such evidence, they may not be entitled to be paid sick or carer’s leave. It is claimed that some employers view websites which offer medical certificates with concern because they believe an online service will be unable to determine if a person is genuinely unwell. Qoctor states that certificates provided by them are valid legal documents and meet all the requirements set out by the Australian Medical Association.
A further criticism is that patients can pay an online service to receive a referral letter specialist after answering a few simple questions and that there are no safeguards in terms of discussing alternative options or coordination of care.