GP TELEHEALTH BUSINESS SETUP & REGISTRATION
Start a GP telehealth business in Australia
HCPA helps you define your services and business model, coordinate the relevant registrations, choose the right technology and build the clinical and operational systems needed to launch your GP telehealth service.
Starting a GP telehealth business involves more than building a website and engaging doctors. You need appropriately registered practitioners, secure clinical systems, a clear patient journey, suitable billing arrangements and processes for privacy, prescribing, follow-up and ongoing care.
There is also no single telehealth business registration that covers every model. The registrations and systems you need depend on the services you provide, how practitioners work within the business, whether Medicare is involved and which digital-health services you use.
HCPA helps you bring these elements together so your telehealth model works commercially, operationally and clinically.
Still deciding whether starting a GP telehealth business is the right opportunity for you?
GP telehealth remains a viable business model, but it is now a mature and competitive market. Established convenience platforms already compete strongly for patients looking for quick consultations, prescriptions or certificates, so new operators need a clear reason for patients to choose their service.
One option is a high-availability model supported by enough practitioners to offer convenient appointment times. Another is to focus on particular areas of care where patients may be willing to wait for the right practitioner or service.
Budget also matters before launch. Founders often underestimate the cost of recruiting practitioners, clinic-management software, administration and marketing.
HCPA can help you assess the market, service model, likely investment and workforce before you commit, then support you through setup and market entry.
Who is well suited to starting a GP telehealth business?
A telehealth business can be established by clinical or non-clinical founders. The founder does not need to be a GP, but clinical services must be delivered by appropriately registered practitioners with clear responsibility for clinical decisions.
What do you need to start a GP telehealth business?
GP telehealth setup starts with four connected decisions: what care you will provide, how patients will pay, which practitioners will deliver it and how technology will support the journey.
Getting those decisions right before building the platform can help avoid investing in software or recruitment that does not fit the final business model.
1. Define what your telehealth service will offer
Start with the services rather than the technology. Decide who you want to support, what consultations you will provide, which practitioners are needed and how patients will pay.
A convenience-led clinic may need broad GP availability and shorter appointment lead times. A focused service can instead build around particular areas of care, practitioner expertise or longer consultation types.
Practitioner economics should be modelled at the same time. Contractor arrangements can give a new business more flexibility while patient demand is still developing, whereas committing to fixed practitioner hours too early can increase operating costs before the appointment book is full.Medicare also needs to be considered early. Not every telehealth consultation is eligible for a rebate. For GP telehealth services, Services Australia explains the current MBS eligibility requirements, including MyMedicare and eligible telehealth practitioner pathways.
The commercial model should therefore be tested service by service rather than assuming Medicare will fund every consultation.
HCPA’s GP telehealth experience suggests around $50,000–$60,000 can be a useful starting planning range for a lean operation, with website development, software, practitioners, administration and marketing among the main costs. More complex technology or a larger patient-acquisition strategy can increase the investment required.
2. Build the digital infrastructure
Your website and clinic-management system become the operational centre of a telehealth business.
The system needs to support the complete workflow, including bookings, payments, consultations, clinical records and practitioner access. Depending on the model, integrations may also be needed for Medicare claiming, electronic prescribing, secure messaging and My Health Record.
Digital-health requirements can include PRODA, HPOS, healthcare identifiers and NASH connectivity, but not every business needs every registration. An HPI-O, for example, identifies a healthcare provider organisation participating in the Healthcare Identifiers Service.
The better starting question is what the service needs the technology to do. HCPA can then map the relevant registrations and integrations around that workflow.
3. Design the patient and practitioner journey
A successful telehealth service needs more than an appointment booking page. Patients need a clear pathway from initial enquiry through eligibility, consultation and follow-up, while practitioners need secure and workable clinical processes behind the scenes.
The journey should account for:- patient intake, identification and consent
- practitioner credentialing and availability
- clinical records and prescribing
- payments and Medicare eligibility
- referrals, results and follow-up
- escalation where in-person or emergency care is required
This is particularly important for prescribing. The Medical Board of Australia’s telehealth guidance states that providing healthcare or prescribing for a patient without a real-time direct consultation, whether in person, by video or by telephone, is not good practice.
The platform therefore needs to support appropriate clinical consultation rather than designing the patient journey primarily around speed or automation.
HCPA can help design the patient journey around both the service you want to offer and the clinical safeguards it requires.
4. Test the model before you launch
Before launch, test the service as one connected workflow rather than reviewing the website, practitioners and software separately.
Patients should be able to understand the service, determine how to book and move securely into the clinical system. Practitioners should be able to access the information they need, conduct the consultation and manage the next step without unnecessary manual work.
The public-facing website should also be reviewed before launch. The Ahpra advertising guidelines apply to businesses advertising regulated health services, not just individual practitioners.
HCPA can test the complete operating model before patients begin using it, including practitioner readiness, technology integration, patient flow and website content.
Why work with HCPA when starting a GP telehealth business?
The difficult part of GP telehealth setup is not finding a single registration form. It is deciding what services are commercially viable, how Medicare fits into them, what practitioner capacity is required and which technology can deliver the model efficiently.
HCPA brings those decisions into one setup plan. We help you assess services and pricing, map practitioner requirements, coordinate relevant registrations and design the patient and technology journey before launch.
We can also help define recruitment requirements and identify external recruitment or technology providers where specialist implementation support is needed.
Backed by HCPA’s Compliance Guarantee
Eligible HCPA registration services are backed by the Compliance Guarantee. If approval is not achieved due to HCPA’s compliance work following three attempts, HCPA provides a full refund and you keep the work completed.
How HCPA helps you start a GP telehealth business
Shape the service model
Assess the market, services, pricing, practitioner requirements and billing options before committing heavily to the platform or workforce.
Map registrations and technology
Identify the Medicare and digital-health requirements relevant to the model and plan how the systems need to connect.
Build the patient workflow
Design the journey from intake to consultation and follow-up, supported by suitable practitioners, software and operating processes.
Test launch readiness
Review the website, practitioner setup, technology and patient journey together so issues can be resolved before the service opens.
Our experience helping businesses enter regulated markets
businesses supported
consultants
first-time approval rate
client revenue generated
HCPA’s GP telehealth capability draws on consultants across business strategy, healthcare setup, practice management, compliance and regulatory research.
Our team has supported GP telehealth businesses with service planning, registrations, patient journeys, software selection, practitioner requirements and operational readiness.
That experience gives HCPA practical insight into decisions that can materially affect a new model before launch, including service positioning, practitioner capacity, Medicare assumptions and technology selection.
Frequently asked questions about starting a GP telehealth business
How do I start a GP telehealth business in Australia?
Begin by deciding what healthcare services the business will provide, who will deliver them and whether patients will pay privately or through eligible Medicare pathways.
You can then establish the business, engage appropriately registered practitioners and configure the technology and digital-health infrastructure needed to deliver those services.
There is no single national telehealth business licence that completes the setup.
What technology does a GP telehealth business need?
At minimum, the technology needs to support a secure journey from booking through to consultation, clinical records and follow-up.
Depending on the model, you may also need Medicare claiming, electronic prescribing, secure messaging and My Health Record connectivity.
Choose the system around the clinic workflow rather than simply comparing software prices or feature lists.
Is starting a GP telehealth business a worthwhile opportunity?
It can be, but a new operator is entering an established market.
Convenience-led services compete with platforms that already offer broad availability, while more focused models need a sufficiently strong service proposition to give patients a reason to choose them.
The opportunity should therefore be tested against patient demand, practitioner availability, pricing and the cost of acquiring patients before launch.
How much does it cost to start a GP telehealth business?
There is no fixed startup cost.
Based on HCPA’s experience, approximately $50,000–$60,000 can provide a useful starting planning range for a lean telehealth operation. Actual investment depends on factors such as website development, clinical software, administration, practitioner arrangements and marketing.
Founders should also retain enough budget for the period after launch, particularly where marketing and practitioner costs start before patient volumes become consistent.
Does the owner of a telehealth business need to be a GP?
No. HCPA supports both clinical and non-clinical founders.
However, healthcare must be delivered by appropriately registered practitioners, and business owners need to respect the clinical independence and professional responsibilities of those practitioners.
Can a GP telehealth business bill Medicare?
Potentially, but not every telehealth service or patient interaction is eligible.
For many GP MBS telehealth services, the patient must either be registered in MyMedicare with the practice or the doctor must meet the eligible telehealth practitioner requirements, such as having provided the patient with a face-to-face MBS service within the previous 12 months. Specific exemptions and other pathways can apply. Services Australia outlines the current eligibility requirements.
A new telehealth-only business should therefore check Medicare eligibility carefully before building its commercial model around rebates, particularly where it expects to treat new patients with no existing relationship with the practitioners.
Should a GP telehealth business focus on convenience or specialised services?
Either model can work, but they create different operating requirements.
A convenience model needs enough practitioner availability to compete on appointment access. A more focused model can build around particular patient needs or areas of care where practitioner expertise and service design provide the point of difference.
This distinction has become more important as the general telehealth market has matured.
Does a GP telehealth business need physical premises?
No. A telehealth-only business does not need patient-facing consulting premises.
However, operating without a physical general practice can affect other parts of the model, including whether the service meets the requirements for general practice accreditation and how MyMedicare or particular Medicare pathways apply.
The decision should therefore come from the services, patient model and billing strategy rather than treating premises as a standalone setup decision.
Does a GP telehealth business need RACGP accreditation?
Not every telehealth business will be eligible for RACGP accreditation.
To be accredited as a general practice, the service needs to meet the RACGP definition of general practice, including providing comprehensive, patient-centred and continuous care. RACGP guidance notes that some telehealth-only services may not be eligible where the scope of care is limited or physical assessment cannot be provided.
If MyMedicare or another program requiring general practice accreditation forms part of the business model, eligibility should be assessed early. MyMedicare generally requires practices to be accredited or working towards accreditation, subject to limited exemptions.
What mistakes should I avoid when starting a GP telehealth business?
One of the most common mistakes is spending too much of the startup budget on the technology platform while underinvesting in other critical areas. Marketing is often underfunded, practitioner recruitment is left too late, and clinic software is sometimes chosen based on price alone rather than functionality, scalability, and compliance requirements.
Another risk is building the business model around assumed Medicare rebates without first confirming that the proposed consultations and patient cohorts meet the relevant eligibility requirements.
A successful launch requires multiple workstreams to progress in parallel. Service design, practitioner recruitment, technology selection, registrations, compliance requirements, marketing, and launch preparation all need sufficient time, planning, and budget to avoid delays and costly adjustments later.
Related GP telehealth resources
Maintaining GP telehealth compliance
Need help with Ahpra, Medicare, privacy or prescribing requirements?
Growing your GP telehealth practice
Ready to attract more patients and increase consultation volumes?
Identify the patient groups and services best suited to your model, then strengthen acquisition, referrals and practitioner utilisation without fragmenting ongoing care.
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