Table 1.

Australian Government funded telehealth initiatives.

YEAR	PREVIOUS TELEHEALTH INITIATIVES
2006	Teleweb (Telephone Counselling, Self Help and Web-based Support Program) Online and telephone based services for mental health support, offered by a range of organisations. [61]
2011	Specialist video consultations for patients living in regional, rural and remote areas, in eligible residential aged care facilities, or receiving care through Aboriginal Medical Services. Medicare Benefits Schedule (MBS) item numbers for both specialists and medical providers, such as GPs - providing ‘patient-end’ services during each consult. [63]
2012	Telehealth Pilots Program [64] 9 demonstration projects to trial and develop business cases focusing on aged care, cancer and palliative care services including advanced care planning. Emphasis on bridging the gap between residents of rural, remote and outer metropolitan centres with specialist services through real-time online consultations. Utilised National Broadband network and linked to an early prototype of the national personally controlled electronic health record (My Health Record).
	HealthDirect videocall service (VCS) pilot program Established to trial the use of videocall services by organisations and general practitioners for medical consultations.
2017	Better Access Mental Health Initiative [65] Additional MBS items to enable patients in rural and remote areas to access mental health services by video conference. Initially available for services delivered by psychologists, social workers and occupational therapists. Extended to GPs and other medical practitioners to deliver focused psychological strategies, from November 2018.
2018	MBS Review Taskforce [66] Considered how MBS items could be better aligned with clinical evidence and practice. Review of specialist consulting items recommended several changes to telehealth items including reinvestment in non-MBS mechanisms and broader rollout of telehealth modalities. [67]
	Drought support 6 MBS items enabling people living in drought declared communities to access mental health and well-being services from their usual doctor via telehealth.
	HealthDirect VCS pilot program expanded to include additional services, now extended to 30 June 2021. Eligible services providing medical care can obtain free access to VCS technology and technical support from HealthDirect.
2019	Rural and Remote Non-Specialist Telehealth Services 12 new MBS items enabling GPs and non-specialist medical practitioners to offer video consultations to patients living in remote and very remote areas. No restrictions apply to the location of the GP, although the patient must have received 3 face-to-face services from the same GP in the preceding 12 months, and be located at least 15 km distant. [68]
2020	Bushfire support [69] Drought support items amended to allow access by people affected by the 2019−2020 bushfire emergency.