ArticleBJGP open2025
Uptake of video telehealth in general practice: an Australian whole-of-population analysis.
Article in BJGP open, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
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Who cites it
1 citing paper in PubMed.
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
19 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundVideo use remains low in primary care telehealth consultations. Little is known about patterns of use or policy levers to promote video.
aimTo investigate use of video telehealth in Australian general practice under permanent telehealth arrangements post-COVID-19 lockdowns, and during a policy change removing reimbursement for long telephone consultations. DESIGN &
settingWhole-of-population analysis of 2022 national healthcare claims linked to 2021 census data.
methodWe quantified the following: proportions of telehealth consultations by video, and of patients and GPs who used video for telehealth consultations; associations between video use and patient characteristics using Poisson regression; and video use in relation to policy changes using interrupted time-series analysis.
resultsOf 38 million GP telehealth consultations in 2022, 5.1% were by video; 8.6% of patients and 62% of GPs who used telehealth had used video. Patients most likely to use video lived remotely, were frequent GP users, or had multiple health conditions, mental health conditions or dementia. Socioeconomic disadvantage was modestly associated with lower use of video. Over 2022, use of video for telehealth decreased for consultations (from 6.5% of consultations in January to 4.1% in December), patients (from 6.7% to 4.4%), and GPs (from 40.0% to 26.0%). Time-series analyses showed downward trends before removal of reimbursement for long telephone consultations, small step increases immediately following, and shallower negative trends thereafter.
conclusionUse of video telehealth consultations in general practice in Australia is low and declining, more so for disadvantaged groups. Differential financial reimbursement of video and telephone consultations has not substantively increased video use in clinical practice.
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