13Sick Review

Bottom Line:

13Sick offers free after-hours care and may be a good outcall option if you're lucky with coverage and waiting times. But you may receive faster and more convenient bulk-billed after-hour care at some premium telehealth providers such as Prime Medic. 

13Sick offers convenient after-hours telehealth services, home visits, and access to aged care via Medicare bulk billing. The provider cooperates with late-night pharmacies in most major cities, over 4,000 GP clinics, and remote doctors to provide coverage across most of Australia. Emergency referrals, e-Scripts, and medical certificates are also available on the 13Sick home doctor service. All users receive bulk-billed sessions between 11 pm and 7 am, regardless of whether they have attended one of the GP practices in the last twelve months or fall into the exempt categories as listed under the Terms and Conditions [4]. 

Pros:

1. Comprehensive after-hour service combining virtual and outcall consultations for wraparound bulk-billed care not available on sites such as Prime Medic and Qoctor. 

2. Always bulk-billed with your Medicare card to book. This sets 13Sick apart from all telehealth providers I found. 

3. Children-specific appointments – unlike on most other telehealth sites, like Medmate. 

Cons: 

1. After-hours service means shorter operating hours than competitors offering paid services during business hours, including HelloGP. 

2. No priority queue, like on sites including Qoctor. Waiting time ranges from a few minutes to several days, according to Product Review users[1]. 

3. 13Sick home doctors aren’t always available. User ratings have shown a deteriorating trend over the last year [1]. 

After-Hour At-Home, Aged-Care and Telehealth Services 

13Sick is also known as the Home Doctor site, as it used to focus on after-hours outcall appointments, including those for aged care and children. Although its website still offers outcall appointments after hours, users report that the service is not widely available. All services are bulk-billed. 

E-Scripts: While its site states that urgent repeat prescriptions and emergency scripts can be delivered, delivery must be organized with a pharmacy of your choice. 

Emergency Referral: As this is an after-hours service, non-urgent referrals may not be available. 

Medical Certificate: This is available post consultation, as required by law. 

Telehealth Consultation: Virtual doctor consultations after hours . The Home Doctor call centre will connect you with the first available GP.

Telehealth for children: Specifically stated on the 13Sick.com.au website, this service is not widely available among other telehealth providers. 

At home visits : These are a standout and not available in all areas or at all times. (No competitor sites I researched offered this.) 

Aged care visits : Again, this is a standout and not available elsewhere. 

 Free Service but Users Report Extending Wait Times and Limited Availability 

13Sick is free, as all services are billed directly to Medicare, like with other after-hour telehealth providers, such as Prime Medic. But 13Sick also pays your first after-hours consultation if you don’t meet all criteria.  

While 13Sick waiting times are stated as being under 2 to 3 hours, according to users [1], previously very speedy appointments can now take significantly longer than the 3-hour waiting time. This puts 13Sick at the bottom of telehealth providers in terms of speed, while consistently offering the lowest fees. 

Outcall service provision has significantly declined over the last year or so, according to many users on Product Review [1], who state that 13Sick Home Doctor Service no longer provides access in their area and often has very long wait times or cancels the appointment after hours of waiting.  

Customers also state that the call centre/ reception itself can sometimes have long wait times. 

While the service bills itself as emergency care, patients may receive faster and more reliable care by calling 000 or heading to their nearest Accident and Emergency (A&E) department in the event of a medical emergency. Some other after-hour telehealth providers also provide free services outside their core hours and have significantly lower waiting times, such as Prime Medic. 

Straightforward Site and Process, Including Booking by Phone Call

• Navigation of the 13Sick site is simple due to its limited offerings, similar to other telehealth sites like InstantScripts. (Although its menu option doesn’t reflect the most important options for patients.) 

• The information on 13Sick is presented very succinctly and clearly.  

• You can book by following a simple process using your Medicare card or by calling 13 SICK. Calling to book is not an option available on other competitor sites I examined. 

• Having the option of booking with your Medicare card online or via phone call makes the service more accessible for some users, including families with children and those in aged care.  

• The 13Sick site feels very similar to other Medicare-related sites, as it also uses the same imagery and language. The process also takes you through a triage process, a bit like you would experience at an A&E department. This is unique and not the case with any other telehealth sites I looked at. 

Secure Handling of Your Data 

The site states that it collects Medicare information, contact details, and health information related to your appointments, as well as information available from government-owned health records. The service offers to share your health outcomes with your GP if you wish to maintain continuity of care. This service is also available at premium telehealth services. 

There is no collection of data for third-party marketing purposes, and 13Sick states that it has implemented all possible procedures to keep your information safe.  

Its data handling and storage are secure, as required by Australian legal and regulatory standards. The policy is outlined in detail on its site, including how to obtain access to all data held. 

13Sick Among Worst User-Rated Telehealth Sites for Customer Service 

13Sick is the telehealth industry exception in letting customers call in to book appointments – with mixed results: 

13Sick call centre, reception, and customer service have consistently received pretty bad reviews on consumer sites such as Product Review, where 13Sick currently only has 2.5 out of 5 stars [1]. 

Users consistently complain that staff do not understand their requests due to poor English. Wait times to ring back and check on appointments that are running late to find out if your home visit is going ahead are often also very long, according to many of the over 1,000 users who have reviewed the service. In recent news articles, 13Sick Home Doctor announced the opening of a Gold Coast-based call centre [3], which may address waiting times and staff’s English proficiency. This follows an investigation by the Australian government’s Director of Professional Standards Review into the Home Doctor service a few years ago [2]. 

Free After-Hour Care, if You Are Prepared to Wait 

13Sick is a household name in Australia and initially helped bring bulk-billed urgent after-hours care to many patients across Australia, both virtually and in outcalls. User reviews and government investigations suggest a potential deterioration in service and raise questions about the handling of its Medicare contract. However, the establishment of a new call centre may address some of the user concerns and improve both the wait times and the professionalism of customer service staff. 13Sick is also running recruitment drives for doctors, including on its website, which may address the low availability of doctors for telehealth or outcall appointments. 

The content has been independently reviewed for accuracy at the time of posting. Please always ensure you check all details yourself before booking a telehealth service.  

These services should always be used in addition to primary care, never as standalone healthcare solutions. If you need urgent medical care, call 000 or visit your nearest Accident and Emergency (A&E) department.  

[1] https://www.productreview.com.au/listings/13sick-national-home-doctor-service 
[2] https://www1.racgp.org.au/newsgp/professional/questions-raised-over-new-crackdown-on-after-hours/
[3] https://cxcentral.com.au/new-140-seat-call-centre-for-the-gold-coast/
[4] https://13sick.com.au/terms-conditions/