marieclaire.com.au 183PHOTOGRAPHED BY DAN SAELINGER/TRUNKARCHIVE.COM/SNAPPER MEDIA. TEXT BY BONNIE BAYLEY
The doctor will see you now ...
on your smartphone. Welcome
to a new era of medicine, where
your GP is just a Skype call awayClick
for care
MODERN MEDICINE
DO YOUR
RESEARCH
“Check out the website:
make sure you’re actually
seeing a GP and that your
information is being kept
safe,” says Dr Ballingall.BE PREPARED
“Have your medical
history handy, including
any surgical procedures,
hospital admissions or
medications you’re on,”
advises Dr Boylan.FORWARD
IT ON
Ask that any medical
records or test results
be sent to your regular
GP to keep them
in the loop.How to get the most out of your digital doctorTo celebrate
World Sexual Health
Day on September 4,
StigmaHealth.com
is offering free
STI testing in
September.F
rom shoe shopping to paying
bills and making restaurant
reservations, so much of our
life admin is now sorted in just
a few clicks. Taking time out of your busy
day to visit a doctor’s surgery and wait
for an appointment (that’s inevitably
running behind schedule) seems archa-
ic in comparison.
It’s no wonder that an online search
now offers up a wealth of time-saving
health tools – making it quicker and
easier than ever to see a GP. Sick notes,
referrals, prescriptions and video con-
sults are some of the services you can
access in cyberspace via sites such as
DoctorsOnDemand.com.au, Qoctor.com
and GP2U.com.au. It’s convenient:
think punctual appointments and not
having to leave your sick bed for a sim-
ple medical certificate, with the quality
controls you’d expect from a doctor.
“We’re all practising GPs who hold
ourselves to the same standards online
as we would in the clinic,” says Dr Aifric
Boylan, director of Qoctor. They’re thor-
ough when it comes to safety around
prescriptions, she adds. “Many women
on the pill have never been asked about
migraines, high blood pressure, or fam-
ily history of stroke or lupus,” says
Dr Boylan. “Our aim is to cover every
question, every time.”
Meanwhile, StigmaHealth.com and
SmartHealth.me offer online STI testreferrals – you take your referral to a pa-
thology centre, bypassing the GP – with
the results delivered via SMS, app, or if
necessary, sent directly to your doctor.
But there’s still a strong case for reg-
ular, face-to-face consultations with
your GP – studies show that nurturing
a long-term relationship with your
doctor promotes patient satisfaction.
You’re also more likely to get holistic
care. “General practice is an art,” says
Dr Clare Ballingall, Tasmanian chair of
the Royal Australian College of General
Practitioners. “When we see someone
for a prescription, we’re also asking
them questions like, ‘How’s the family,how’s your work stress, do you feel safe
in your home?’ ”
Costs also vary on and offline: cur-
rently Medicare doesn’t offer rebates for
digital consultations. GP2U charges up
to $69 for a phone or video call (com-
pared to the out-of-pocket cost of a
standard GP appointment, which is
around $35). Online sick notes are
cheaper, with Qoctor billing $19.99. Dr
Ballingall believes digital consults are
best saved for when you can’t get to a GP.
HealthEngine.com.au could be a good
compromise – you can scope out GP
profiles and book appointments by
location. Now that’s good medicine.WELLNESS