Telstra goes live with 'doc around the clock'

 02-Jul-15, Pulse + IT 

Telstra Health has officially gone live with its ReadyCare telemedicine service, offering phone and video consultations with GPs 24 hours a day from a purpose-built facility in Sydney's Alexandria. A joint venture between Telstra Health and Swiss telemedicine provider Medgate, ReadyCare is initially being targeted at the business-to-business market including health funds, mining companies, state governments and corporates.

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It has signed its first big contract with travel insurance and medical assistance firm Cover-More, which insures 1.8 million travellers every year and handles 35,000 medical episodes. From next month, Cover-More will offer its customers the ability to call an Australian doctor 24/7 for medical assistance wherever they are in the world.

Telstra Health managing director Shane Solomon said ReadyCare was different to existing telephone advice lines in that its GPs are able to diagnose and treat medical conditions and to write prescriptions. 

While targeting the business market initially, the plan is to gauge direct-to-consumer interest. Mr Solomon said he expected the service to appeal to time-poor workers, new mothers, after-hours callers and those who cannot access a regular GP. Telstra hopes this will show that B2C telemedicine can work effectively, safely and efficiently in Australia, so it can then be provided as a service for GPs to use in their own practices.

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