Complaints about a lack of communication between GPs and patients are rising and one concern is online platforms using artificial intelligence.
VICE
The quality of healthcare in Australia is undeniably deteriorating. Medicare, our once-universal-healthcare system, has been strangled by years of policymaking and, while the 2023-24 Federal Budget included the biggest investment into the system since its inception in 1984, patients claim doctors are increasingly exploiting new technology to make up for deep funding gaps.
Complaints to Australia’s medical board about poor or no communication between doctors and patients have risen dramatically since telehealth was expanded in 2020 and, more recently, spurred concerns about the use of artificial intelligence for prescriptions.
A spokesperson for the Medical Board of Australia told VICE Australia it had received 550 complaints since 1 July 2020 specifically related to poor practice from GPs via telehealth and online services that don’t involve any consult between doctor and patient to get a prescription – a new and concerning phenomenon in Australia.
Complaints detailed instances of practitioners not adequately assessing a patient before handing out a script or advising treatment, including doctors not checking medical history, not asking about the patient’s other current medications and not advising about possible side effects of prescription drugs.
A number of complaints also claimed their prescribing processes felt like they were managed by an algorithm or AI process, as opposed to being undertaken by a prescriber only after carefully considering the clinical need for a medication.
