The AMA has sounded the alarm after a private health insurer bought a controlling stake in a telehealth clinic that offers $25 text-based consults with GPs and personalised prebiotic supplements based on analysis of its patient stools.  

According to Nib’s website, the GP consults are available to its 1.4 million members through its ‘partner’, Hub Health which also offers home-delivered prescription medications from 70 cents per dose.

The consult interactions between the patient and the doctor take place through encrypted messaging on an online platform and if the doctor believes they need to speak to the patient directly, they can arrange to talk over the phone (see box below for details).

Hub Health is one of four arms of Midnight Health, a GP telehealth clinic that is now 63% owned by Nib.