‘Scripts-on-demand’ telehealth clinics are a major overservicing concern, PSR warns
In contrast to media claims, it says fraud is a tiny issue, with just two potential cases identified last year
Telehealth clinics churning out scripts for expensive PBS-funded medicines are worrying the Professional Services Review far more than rare instances of fraud, the watchdog says.
Earlier this month, doctors came under fire in a series of reports from the ABC and Nine Newspapers, alleging billions being rorted from Medicare each year.
But the PSR’s annual report, the first under new acting director Dr Antonio Di Do, tells a different story.
Of the 22 practitioners the watchdog referred to other regulators for suspected criminal activity or misconduct during the last financial year, only two were a result of suspected fraud, it said.
