Are you a GP?
Yes
No
HCP
Member of the general public
GP practice manager
My practice is...
Bulk-billing only
Mix of bulk-billing and private billing
Private billing only
Can you provide an estimate of how much revenue your practice lost in March (compared with March 2019)?
Our revenue went up
0-10% loss
20-30% loss
30-50% loss
50-70% loss
70-100% loss
10-20% loss
Can you provide an estimate of how much revenue your practice lost in April (compared with April 2019)?
Our revenue went up
0-10% loss
20-30% loss
30-50% loss
50-70% loss
70-100% loss
10-20% loss
Can you provide an estimate of how much revenue your practice lost in May (compared with May 2019)?
Our revenue went up
0-10% loss
20-30% loss
30-50% loss
50-70% loss
70-100% loss
10-20% loss
If your revenue went down, was that due to decreased patient numbers?
Yes, this was the main driving factor
Yes, this was an important factor but there were other factors also driving revenue losses
No, decreased patient numbers were not the main factor driving revenue losses
My revenue did not go down
Comments:
Were appointment numbers up or down compared to March-April last year? (including F2F and telehealth)
Down
Up
Roughly the same
If appointment numbers were down, how much were they down by? (including F2F and telehealth)
10-30%
30-50%
More than 50%
Appointment numbers did not materially decline
What proportion of appointments were F2F vs telehealth in March-April?
Approximately 50:50
More telehealth than F2F
More F2F than telehealth
Did the income gained from offering telehealth appointments replace lost income from F2F appointments?
Mostly
Partially
Not significantly
If telehealth appointments did not substantially replace lost income from reduced F2F appointments, why was that?
For many telehealth appointments, I could not charge the same gap fee that I would for F2F appointments because of Medicare restrictions (i.e. I cannot charge a gap fee for children, concession card holders and people who are more vulnerable to COVID-19)
The Medicare item numbers I was billing for telehealth appointments were different to F2F appointments and generated less revenue for the practice
My practice does not offer telehealth
N/A - Telehealth did substantially replace lost income
I have lots of patients who can't access telehealth
I practice areas of medicine which are unable to be delivered via telehealth (e.g. aged care, pain medicine, dermatology)
Other:
How do telehealth billings differ to F2F billings?
There is less opportunity to privately bill telehealth compared with F2F appointments
Telehealth appointments are more likely to be billed using the lower value Medicare item numbers than F2F appointments
F2F appointments take longer than telehealth appointments
Telehealth appointments take longer than F2F appointments
It's more likely that I will bill multiple Medicare item numbers in F2F appointments compared with telehealth appointments
Other:
Overall, what do you think drove the changes to revenue in March-April?
Fewer consultations because patients were avoiding the practice due to COVID-19 fears
The same number of consultations but more through telehealth, which initially could not be privately billed
Initially empty waiting rooms and low numbers of telehealth appointments, but improved in April as there is high demand for the flu shot this year and patients are less fearful of coming to the practice now
I don't feel comfortable privately billing or charging a gap fee for a telehealth appointment
The number of appointments is the same as it used to be when you add telehealth and F2F appointment numbers. But I can't privately bill many telehealth appointments because of the restrictions (i.e. I can't charge a gap fee for vulnerable patients)
Revenue from patient appointments is the same as last year. The practice revenue is down because tenants have dropped their rent payments.
Revenue changed because the mix in appointment types changed, with more lower value Medicare items billed and fewer higher value Medicare items billed through March-April
Other: