General Practice New Zealand (GPNZ) strongly rejects the claim that 40 to 50 per cent of general practice work could be managed through telehealth consultation.
The statement was made during Te Whatu Ora’s most recent ‘future of health’ webinar.
“This type of statement absolutely undervalues the contribution general practice makes to patient health,” says Porirua-based Specialist General Practitioner and Chair of GPNZ, Dr Bryan Betty.
GPNZ advocates for the appropriate use of telehealth services, and believes it is one small part of the sustainability of general practice puzzle. But the limitations must be acknowledged, there are a huge number of instances where telehealth is simply not appropriate or clinically safe.
“Everyone can relate to something that is good but will never be a replacement for the real thing – and that is essentially what we have here. Telehealth is good in a select set of circumstances.
“Specialist GPs use their judgement on when telehealth is appropriate that is influenced by a huge range of factors.”
GPNZ will address the comments made in the webinar directly with Te Whatu Ora Commissioning team.
