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In-depth topic course

Telehealth and Online Prescribing: Standards for Australian Practitioners

Safe Virtual Care, Asynchronous Prescribing Limits and Record-Keeping

  • 3 CPD hoursEstimated learning time
  • 20-question assessmentPass mark 80%
  • Online, self-pacedStart any time
  • CertificateFor your CPD records

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About this course

Telehealth is now part of everyday practice for doctors, nurse practitioners, psychologists, allied health practitioners and pharmacists across Australia. The professional standard has not changed: a video or phone consultation is judged against the same codes of conduct as an in-person visit. What has changed is the scrutiny. Ahpra and the National Boards updated their telehealth guidance in October 2025, issued a joint statement on single-medicine prescribing models, and published detailed medicinal cannabis guidance, and they have said that the individual practitioner, not the platform, is accountable for the care provided.

The practical questions are where practitioners get caught out. Can you prescribe after an online questionnaire? Is a live chat a consultation? Which state's poisons law applies when the patient is interstate? What must you record when an AI scribe is running? When does a telehealth item attract Medicare benefits, and what are the 80/20 and 30/20 rules?

This course answers those questions using the Medical Board's telehealth guidelines, Ahpra's cross-profession guidance and case studies, and the Commonwealth rules that sit alongside them. It gives you scripts for opening a consultation, a prescribing checklist, governance questions to put to any telehealth employer, and a self-audit you can run on your own consultations.

Who this course is for

  • GPs, specialists and doctors working for telehealth or after-hours services
  • Nurse practitioners, designated registered nurse prescribers and nurses in virtual care
  • Psychologists and allied health practitioners delivering therapy or rehabilitation by video
  • Pharmacists who dispense prescriptions generated through telehealth services
  • Paramedics and other clinicians working in virtual care centres
  • Practitioners considering a role with a single-medicine or condition-specific telehealth clinic
  • Clinical leads responsible for telehealth governance in a practice or service

What you’ll learn

  • Decide when telehealth is safe

    Judge suitability for each patient and presentation, and convert to in-person or emergency care with a clear escalation plan.

  • Prescribe within Board expectations

    Apply the real-time consultation standard, refuse asynchronous prescribing for new patients, and handle drugs of dependence across state borders.

  • Run and record a complete consultation

    Use identity, location and consent checks, manage AI scribes and images securely, and keep records that show your reasoning.

  • Protect yourself in telehealth businesses

    Recognise conflicts of interest and closed loops, ask the right governance questions, and understand MBS eligibility and PSR thresholds.

Learning objectives

  • Define telehealth and virtual care and identify the primary sources that set expectations in Australia.
  • Decide whether telehealth is clinically appropriate and convert to in-person or emergency care when needed.
  • Conduct a telehealth consultation with appropriate identity, location, consent and privacy checks.
  • Explain the Boards' position on prescribing without a real-time consultation and on asynchronous models.
  • Apply state and territory drugs and poisons requirements, including monitoring systems, to telehealth prescribing.
  • Recognise and manage conflicts of interest and closed-loop arrangements in telehealth businesses.
  • Keep telehealth records, use AI scribes and share information in line with Ahpra guidance and privacy law.
  • Describe MBS telehealth eligibility rules and the PSR 80/20 and 30/20 patterns.
  • Maintain professional boundaries and audit your own telehealth practice.

Scenarios covered

Practice situations you reason through, step by step, in the course.

  • The questionnaire queue

    A platform presents completed intake forms for a weight-loss medicine and expects a decision within minutes. You work through what the Medical Board's real-time consultation expectation means in practice, and how to document a refusal.

  • The interstate opioid request

    A new patient in another state asks for a specific opioid by video. You apply real-time prescription monitoring, the drugs and poisons laws of both jurisdictions, and a safe alternative plan.

  • Chest pain on camera

    A routine follow-up turns urgent. You see why confirming the patient's exact location at the start of every consultation matters, and how to convert to emergency care.

  • The AI scribe nobody mentioned

    A clinic installs an AI scribe in its telehealth platform. You work through consent, checking the output, where the data goes and what to do when a patient says no.

  • Photos on a personal phone

    Wound photos sent by text have synced to a family cloud account. You move them to the record, assess a possible data breach and fix the process.

  • Late-night social media messages

    A client receiving video therapy starts messaging privately after hours. You set boundaries, provide crisis options and document the discussion.

Course contents

8 sections, 32 lessons, then the final assessment.

  1. Section 1: Telehealth in Australian Practice: The Regulatory Frame4 lessons
    • 1.1 What Counts as Telehealth and Virtual Care
    • 1.2 Where the Expectations Come From
    • 1.3 Personal Accountability in Telehealth Businesses
    • 1.4 Registration, Location and Indemnity
  2. Section 2: Deciding Whether Telehealth Is Appropriate4 lessons
    • 2.1 Clinical Suitability
    • 2.2 Patient Factors
    • 2.3 Video or Telephone?
    • 2.4 Red Flags and Converting the Consultation
  3. Section 3: Running a Safe Telehealth Consultation5 lessons
    • 3.1 Before the Consultation
    • 3.2 Opening the Consultation
    • 3.3 Consent: to Telehealth, Recording and AI Scribes
    • 3.4 Remote History-Taking and Examination
    • 3.5 Closing, Safety-Netting and Continuity
  4. Section 4: Prescribing via Telehealth4 lessons
    • 4.1 The Real-Time Consultation Expectation
    • 4.2 Asynchronous and Questionnaire Models
    • 4.3 Drugs of Dependence and Cross-Border Prescribing
    • 4.4 Electronic Prescriptions and the Joint Statement
  5. Section 5: Single-Medicine Platforms, Commercial Pressure and Conflicts of Interest4 lessons
    • 5.1 Why Regulators Are Concerned
    • 5.2 Medicinal Cannabis and Telehealth
    • 5.3 Conflicts of Interest, Closed Loops and Advertising
    • 5.4 Clinical Governance Questions to Ask
  6. Section 6: Records, Privacy and Technology in Telehealth4 lessons
    • 6.1 What a Telehealth Record Should Contain
    • 6.2 Privacy and Security of Platforms, Recordings and Images
    • 6.3 AI Scribes and Other Supporting Technologies
    • 6.4 Sharing Information and My Health Record
  7. Section 7: Medicare, Billing Integrity and Profession-Specific Practice3 lessons
    • 7.1 MBS Telehealth: The Eligible Telehealth Practitioner Rule
    • 7.2 Professional Services Review and Billing Integrity
    • 7.3 Telehealth Across the Professions
  8. Section 8: When Things Go Wrong: Notifications, Boundaries and Self-Audit4 lessons
    • 8.1 Common Themes in Telehealth Concerns
    • 8.2 Professional Boundaries in Remote and Digital Care
    • 8.3 Responding to a Complaint or Notification
    • 8.4 A Telehealth Self-Audit
  9. Final assessment and written reflection20 questions

Assessment and certificate

  1. Work through the course

    Study each section at your own pace, including the case illustrations and apply-it questions.

  2. Pass the assessment

    20 scenario-based questions. You need 16 correct (80%) to pass.

  3. Write your reflection

    A short written reflection on how the learning applies to your own practice.

  4. Download your certificate

    Shows your name, the course, the date and 3 CPD hours. Anyone can check it on our verification page.

What you keep for your CPD records

  • Certificate of completion recording approximately 3 hours of learning
  • A written reflective account on your own telehealth and prescribing practice
  • A one-page telehealth quick-reference guide covering every stage of a consultation
  • A ten-point telehealth self-audit tool you can repeat and keep with your CPD records

How certificates and CPD records workVerify a certificate

Primary sources

The course is built on these official documents. Check them for the current version.

Questions about this course

Does Ahpra accredit or approve this course?

No. Ahpra and the National Boards do not accredit or approve CPD courses of this kind, and this course is not accredited, not approved and not endorsed by Ahpra, any National Board or any professional body. It is independent education. Under the Boards' CPD registration standards you choose activities relevant to your practice and record the actual time you spend against your CPD plan.

Can I prescribe after a patient completes an online questionnaire?

For a patient you have never consulted, the Medical Board states that prescribing without a real-time consultation, in person, by video or by telephone, is not good practice and is not supported. Ahpra's cross-profession guidance takes the same position. A usual practitioner with access to the clinical record may sometimes prescribe without a consultation, for example a stable repeat medicine.

Does a live chat or text conversation count as a consultation?

Not for these purposes. The National Boards have said they do not consider an online chat to be a synchronous, real-time consultation. Convert to video or telephone before making a prescribing decision for a new patient.

Which state's law applies when I prescribe for a patient in another state?

Registration is national, but drugs and poisons laws are not. The Medical Board and Ahpra expect you to comply with the requirements of both the prescriber's and the patient's jurisdictions, including real-time prescription monitoring where it applies. The course explains how to approach this.

Do I need patient consent to use an AI scribe in telehealth?

Ahpra expects you to tell patients about AI scribes and obtain informed consent, ideally recording their response. You remain responsible for checking that the notes the tool produces are accurate. If a patient declines, proceed without it.

When can I bill Medicare for a GP or nurse practitioner telehealth consultation?

Most GP and nurse practitioner telehealth items require you, or your practice, to have provided a face-to-face service in the last 12 months, with exemptions. From 1 November 2025, GP patients registered in MyMedicare can also access telehealth from their registered practice. Benefits are not payable when the patient or provider is overseas.

What are the PSR 80/20 and 30/20 rules?

They are prescribed patterns of service. Rendering 80 or more relevant services on 20 or more days in a 12-month period, or 30 or more relevant telephone services on 20 or more days, is deemed inappropriate practice unless exceptional circumstances apply.

How long does the course take and how do I record it?

It is designed as about 3 hours of learning, including the assessment and reflective account. Record the time you actually spend, keep your certificate and reflection, and decide whether the learning fits your CPD plan. If you have a condition on your registration, check with Ahpra or your Board and your adviser before relying on any course.

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