To work safely in telehealth, your medical indemnity must cover the full scope of how you practice, including online and remote consultations. Your policy should specifically include:

  • Telehealth consultations (video and telephone)
  • Synchronous care (written requests, repeat prescriptions, secure messaging), where appropriate for your scope
  • Clinical follow-up and documentation obligations
  • Work undertaken through approved telehealth platforms

Modern indemnity policies recognise that doctors now deliver care through various methods, and your cover should match your actual practice pattern.

Your indemnity must protect you for telehealth as long as:

  • Both you and your patient are in Australia, or
  • You are temporarily overseas (generally up to 120 days) while treating Australian patients, or
  • Your patient is temporarily outside Australia (usually less than 90 days) and you are practising in Australia

You cannot provide telehealth where you or the patient are located in the United States or where US law applies, unless your insurer expressly covers it.

If you are outside Australia while consulting, you must maintain:

  • AHPRA registration, and
  • Any local licensing or indemnity requirements for the country you are in.