ANU Telehealth in Primary Care Study

Image

Telehealth has transformed the way people in Australia have engaged with primary care. Telephone and video consultations have become more common, in response to the COVID-19 pandemic and changing technology. It is important to understand the impact of wide-scale Medicare-funded telehealth on access to care and the quality of care patients receive, particularly among at-risk people and medically-underserved populations.

This project includes both quantitative and qualitative components. The quantitative component uses large-scale linked data available through the Multi-Agency Data Integration Project (MADIP) and the qualitative component engages clinicians and consumers through interviews and workshops. The project aims to address the following research questions:

1. Has primary health care uptake and quality, as measured by indicators of accessibility, continuity, appropriateness and coordination, changed over time concerning whole-of-population Medicare Benefits Schedule telehealth initiatives, factoring in the COVID-19 context?
2. How do these outcomes vary according to patient characteristics, particularly concerning those that identify as at-risk or underserved populations, based on age, socioeconomic circumstances and health status?
3. How do consumers and clinicians experience and manage safety in telehealth consultations?
4. What is the value accorded to consumers of different elements of telehealth quality i.e. safety, accessibility, continuity and acceptability, and under what circumstances do trade-offs occur?

Funding

The project was funded by the Medical Research Future Fund. MRFF Grant #2006309—Optimising primary health care in Australia: multi-method whole-of-population investigation of the impact of telehealth on uptake and quality of care.

Image

Resources and Related Outputs
	Butler D, Joshy G, Douglas K, Bin-Sayeed M-S, Welsh J, Douglas A, Korda R & The ANU Telehealth In Primary Care Study Team. (2022). Changes in General Practice use and costs with COVID-19 and telehealth initiatives. British Journal of General Practice. 73. BJGP.2022.0351. 10.3399/BJGP.2022.0351.
	Butler D, Law H, Phillips C, Douglas KA, Hall Dykgraaf S, Agostino J, Banks E, Freeman-Robinson R, Desborough J, Dougherty A, Joshy G, Lazarevic N, Welsh J, Bin-Sayeed M, Chateau D, Soga K, Parkinson A, Trevenar S, Korda RJ. Uptake of video telehealth in general practice: an Australian whole-of-population analysis. British Journal of General Practice. BJGPO.2025.0011
	Welsh J, Freeman Robinson R, Butler D, Eddowes R, Yazidjoglu A, Douglas A, Douglas KA, Lazarevic N, Law HD, Joshy G, Trevenar S, Tsheten T, Webster A, Frost M, Cropper B, Hall Dykgraaf S, Phillips C, Banks E, Korda RJ. Continuity of Care in General Practice in Australia: A Whole-Of-Population Serial Cross-Sectional Study Medical Journal of Australia 224, no. 6 (2026): e70229, https://doi.org/10.5694/mja2.70229.
	Butler DC, Lazarevic N, Joshy G, Phillips C, Hall Dykgraaf S, Welsh J, Douglas KA, Law HD, Banks E, Desborough J, Tsheten T,  Agostino J, Trevenar S, Korda RJ. Temporal changes in chronic disease management in primary care in relation to telehealth policy changes: Australian whole-of-population interrupted time-series analysis, Family Practice, Volume 43, Issue 4, August 2026, cmag042, https://doi.org/10.1093/fampra/cmag042