{"id":388648,"date":"2026-04-20T11:39:08","date_gmt":"2026-04-20T11:39:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/388648\/"},"modified":"2026-04-20T11:39:08","modified_gmt":"2026-04-20T11:39:08","slug":"aussie-doctors-easy-solution-as-bulk-billed-gps-disappear-free-and-open-24-7","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/388648\/","title":{"rendered":"Aussie doctor’s ‘easy’ solution as bulk-billed GPs disappear: ‘Free and open 24\/7’"},"content":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s 8pm on a Friday night, your GP surgery has shut for the weekend<\/a> and one of the kids has just started coughing.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s the heart-dropping moment many a parent across Australia has faced<\/a>, knowing that the much-needed script<\/a> for croup medication or antibiotics is out of reach for the next few days<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I worked in hospitals I spent time in Emergency<\/a> and traditionally after 7pm there\u2019s an influx of patients<\/a> who don\u2019t have super life-threatening conditions but they still need to be attended to<\/a>,\u201d Dr Vishnu Gopalan tells Yahoo Lifestyle<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The lack of basic after-hours health care<\/a> is clearly a problem for patients and doctors<\/a> alike and it was one of the reasons Dr Gopalan<\/a> decided to start a telehealth service, Hola Health<\/a>, with GPs available 24\/7<\/a> for patients across Australia.<\/p>\n

RELATED:<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019d worked happily in clinics as a GP<\/a> but I\u2019d always wanted to do something in the telehealth space<\/a>,\u201d the Perth-based doctor said.<\/p>\n

And the after-hours problem<\/a> wasn\u2019t the only reason.<\/p>\n

To find out if you’re eligible for bulk-billed Hola Health <\/a>appointments on Medicare click here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Travelling to see a GP can be a problem<\/p>\n

Helping people in remote locations was also a driver as after working across West Australia Dr Gopalan had seen the health issues people faced there<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cI spent a lot of time as a locum in rural areas<\/a> and I saw first hand how difficult it is to get care,” he said.<\/p>\n

“People had to drive a long way [to a GP] and there was also no good continuity of care.<\/p>\n

“They would be served by different locums<\/a> and some weeks wouldn\u2019t have a doctor at all.”<\/p>\n

\"Telehealth<\/p>\n

Telehealth appointments mean Aussies don’t have to travel to see the GP when sick. Picture: Hola Health<\/p>\n

Travelling for even fifteen minutes and then sitting in a waiting room full of other sick people<\/a> for 30 minutes is also not a great use of anyone\u2019s time.<\/p>\n

It means after years of treating people in more traditional settings Dr Gopalan decided to move into a new area<\/a> and, in September 2019 he set up Hola Health<\/a>.<\/p>\n

His new telehealth service offers many bulk-billed appointments<\/a> and aims to get patients on a call with a doctor within 15 minutes<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The service is free after-hours on weekdays<\/a>, most of Saturday and every Sunday or public holiday.<\/p>\n

There are some cases where there is a fee. You can find the details here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Healthcare for modern life<\/p>\n

The aim of Hola Health is convenience<\/a>; perfect for time-poor patients or families who are juggling the stresses of modern life.<\/p>\n

“There\u2019s generally such a sense of gratitude when you help these patients,” the doctor said.<\/p>\n

“When you can send a script to them in an SMS<\/a> there\u2019s genuine surprise \u2013 they say, \u2018oh it\u2019s this easy,’. As a doctor, that is a melting moment for me.”<\/p>\n

As well as managing the business Dr Gopalan still works around 12 hours as a GP on the platform alongside doctors from all over the country<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

The aim of Hola Health is convenience with certified Australian doctors. Picture: Hola Health.<\/p>\n

“It\u2019s easy for doctors to adopt,” he said<\/p>\n

“Typically, a GP works three or four days, but this platform is very simple to use and allows them to unlock some of their spare time<\/a>.”<\/p>\n

He explained why he has so many Australian GPs available.<\/p>\n

The calls are generally done via video<\/a> and he said they only switch to voice call if there\u2019s terrible internet, like in some rural areas.<\/p>\n

“98 per cent of calls are video<\/a>,” he said.<\/p>\n

“Telehealth mirrors face-to-face practice and 70 per cent of calls are about a one-off episode like a UTI, tonsillitis, food poisoning, things that can be solved quite easily.<\/p>\n

“Early intervention leads to a better outcome so it\u2019s good that patients don\u2019t have to wait from Friday to Monday to see a GP<\/a>.<\/p>\n

“Instead, we can get them antibiotics and by Monday they might be 50 per cent better.”<\/p>\n

The face of the future<\/p>\n

The only limitation of telehealth<\/a> is the fact that patients can\u2019t be thoroughly examined.<\/p>\n

But in the case of a complex health problem, the doctors at Hola Health<\/a> will guide people down the appropriate channels and suggest they see a GP.<\/p>\n

“The best health outcome<\/a> is face-to-face but sometimes you want the second best for convenience and time saving and telehealth is a good second best<\/a>,” Dr Gopalan said.<\/p>\n

“This second best is also not that distant to the best.”<\/p>\n

He also believes this is where health care<\/a> could be going in future.<\/p>\n

“There are companies trying to develop blood pressure machines that work through the camera lens of the phone,” he said.<\/p>\n

“Things like this are two to five years away.”<\/p>\n

It will make telehealth an even more appealing option and seeing a GP<\/a>, in any form, will still be better than doing it yourself with AI.<\/p>\n

Dr Gopalan is not sitting still either.<\/p>\n

He has more plans for Hola Health in future<\/a>.<\/p>\n

“Hola was born because we genuinely saw the problem in the community<\/a> and we want to solve other pain points too<\/a>,” he said.<\/p>\n

“Mental health is a big one and [next] we\u2019d like to look at specific problems like ADHD and accessing psychiatrists<\/a>.”<\/p>\n

To find out if you’re eligible for bulk-billed Hola Health <\/a>appointments on Medicare click here<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"It\u2019s 8pm on a Friday night, your GP surgery has shut for the weekend and one of the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":388649,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[85,134,527,201235,111,139,69,153222,201236],"class_list":{"0":"post-388648","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-healthcare","8":"tag-australia","9":"tag-health","10":"tag-healthcare","11":"tag-hola-health","12":"tag-new-zealand","13":"tag-newzealand","14":"tag-nz","15":"tag-telehealth-service","16":"tag-vishnu-gopalan"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/388648","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=388648"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/388648\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/388649"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=388648"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=388648"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=388648"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}