DoctorsOnDemand Review

Bottom Line:

DoctorsOnDemand offers speedy 24/7 access to doctor’s consultations. Patients benefit from choosing their doctor and time of appointment. Free for BUPA and Allianz members. 

DoctorsOnDemand Australia is a comprehensive premium telehealth provider with a focus on speedy, around-the-clock online doctors’ consultations for free for insured members and at premium rates for all other patients. It also offers a gap-fee-only mental health assessment for all, though it doesn’t deliver the ten appointments included in the mental health care plan. During business hours, DoctorsOnDemand provides reasonably priced quit-smoking support. 

Pros:

1. 24/7 access to most services, better than most competitors, including Qoctor. 

2. One of the speediest telehealth services around, comparable to Hola Health. 

Cons: 

1. Very expensive compared to similar services, with some hidden surcharges and varying rebates on mental health assessment. 

2. Customer service is often unresponsive according to 500+ Google reviews [2]. 

3. User reviews comment very negatively on the service quality delivered by some doctors and rate it as low as 1.8 out of 5 stars on Product Review [1]. It has some of the most critical reviews I have read, and patients often feel rushed. 

Standard Doctors’ Consultations for Almost All Services 

DoctorsOnDemand offers online doctors' appointments, which are priced between $62.95 and $92.95 (after-hours) or free for BUPA members. They last 15 minutes max. Different from most telehealth sites like Updoc, you can select your doctor’s gender, a specific doctor (pending availability), or the exact appointment time. 

All of the services listed below are booked under the doctors’ consultations and cost the same, except for mental health assessments and quit smoking appointments. 

Online Prescriptions: Both repeat scripts or new e-Scripts are available, and partner pharmacies can deliver medication. Pricing and delivery speed options are not available on the site. This is more expensive than InstantScripts, for example. 

Cardiovascular Treatment: Quit smoking sessions are available during business hours only and are the only service that’s less expensive than the general consultations. This is unusual compared to, say, Medmate.

Mental Health Plans: Mental health care assessment is available via Medicare (gap fee applies) or privately, but DoctorsOnDemand does not deliver the sessions. 

Weight Loss Support: Weight management care can be booked via the general doctor's consultation, while they are a separate service at, for example, Updoc. 

Medical Certificate: Single and multi-day certificates are available via doctors' consultations and cost the same as other appointments, making it more expensive than most telehealth providers such as Qoctor. 

Specialist Referral: Online specialist referrals and pathology requests can be obtained by doctors' consultation, similar to comprehensive sites like PrimeMedic. 

Premium Pricing and Short Wait Times 

Wait times can be less than 15 minutes and are typically within one hour or by appointment at your preferred time, available 24/7. This is unusually fast without a surcharge and with extended hours. 

DoctorsOnDemand bulkbills only mental health-related appointments, and all other services (other than quit smoking) are at the upper end of the telehealth market compared to premium sites such as PrimeMedic. 

• Doctors' consultations on DoctorsOnDemand cost from $62.95 between 8 am and 6 pm Mon to Fri and $92.95 at all other times (including public holidays). While this puts it in line with online practices like HelloGP, its inclusion of blood tests, referrals, Imaging, weight loss, and medical certificates makes it significantly more expensive for basic services than other sites such as Updoc or Medmate. 
• Mental health care plan assessment or review (or private mental health consultation without Medicare) $120 with $100.20 rebate if eligible for plan and $78.95 rebate if not – significantly more expensive than other services, such as Qoctor, not all telehealth providers offer Mental Health Care Plans. 
• Quit smoking $19.90 (only business hours), which is the lowest price on comprehensive telehealth sites that I could find. The nearest one is $24.99 at Qoctor. 
• Repeat Script $29.90 24/7, putting it in mid-range above services including Medmate, AussieScripts, and OurSage. 

• Pharmacy service and delivery have no specific pricing or wait time information available. 
• Unusually, Medical Report Preparations are priced at $120, and access to your medical records will cost $25 (this should be free). I could not find similar costs stated on other telehealth sites I reviewed. 
• BUPA and Allianz Care telehealth members get free service on DoctorsOnDemand, and some employers can provide benefit codes. 

 Site Lacks Essential Information and Has Lengthy Booking Process. 

• The site does not feel as intuitive and straightforward to me as other sites, compared to comparable sites like PrimeMedic. But the FAQ section is well-ordered. You can search by type of appointment or condition in a list, which is similar to other telehealth sites such as Medmate. 
• I found it hard to find clear information, as information is hidden. For example, you have to dig for pricing information. When you see it, you find that two services cost a booking surcharge (very unusual in this space), and the mental health assessment has three prices. You won’t know how much you pay until AFTER your appointment, and there is no information available on medication delivery times and cost. This means DoctorsOnDemand’s website doesn’t always provide the most relevant information first, similar to HubHealth. 
• The process looks straightforward at first glance, with more options than other sites. For example, you can book the first available time, book a timeslot, and/ or select a doctor. You can request a female or male doctor (subject to availability). But the reviews on multiple consumer sites show that it can take over 15 minutes to go through the booking process, resulting in the first available appointment window passing by. I have not come across this type of feedback with any other provider. 
• While the site feels clean, it lacks depth of essential information – except its well-ordered and in-depth FAQ menu. 

 GP-like Approach to Privacy and Data Security 

DoctorsOnDemand keeps all medical records in a secure Practice Management System (PMS). The site highlights that “Founders have run Medical Centres for more than 20 years and apply the same principles of information security and privacy for our patients at Doctors on Demand.”  

They work closely with major Australian insurance companies, demonstrating their strict compliance with the Australian Privacy Act (1988). 

Your personal information is only shared with service providers directly involved in your care. You can opt out of other sharing of your information, for example, with your GP.  

Members’ information may be shared in a de-identified format with insurance companies for billing and reporting. 

Unusually, you can only obtain access to your medical records for a $25 fee.

Customer Support Not Premium Quality 

• DoctorsOnDemand can be reached by phone, webform, and email. This makes it easier to contact them than telehealth sites like Updoc. 
• But Google and Google Play reviews show 3.1 and 3 out of 5 stars [2] with plenty of extremely negative reviews regarding the customer service phone hotline, which, according to many users, disconnects/ doesn’t answer and doesn’t resolve complaints speedily. (Note: DoctorsOnDemand reviews on the site paint a very different picture with 4.7 out of 5 stars.) Having read through a lot of the reviews, it looks like reaching DoctorsOnDemand’s customer support by phone is more difficult than by email, web form, or leaving them a review. While 13Sick has similarly bad customer service reviews, this is an outlier across the sites I examined. Perhaps this could be due to a lack of reviews from customers outside of the site’s review feature.

Fast 24/7 Access to Doctor of Your Choice – at a High Cost but Free for BUPA Members 

The selling point of DoctorsOnDemand is fast 24/7 access (or at a chosen time) with a practitioner of your choice, selecting female/ male or a specific doctor. However, service quality and delivery can be mixed, and DoctorsOnDemand reviews show the telehealth service may be lacking in follow-through and customer support.

Given its pricing compared to most telehealth sites, you may only want to use the service for choosing your doctor and appointment time, and/ or need speedy access to after-hours consultations with no worries regarding medication delivery times. BUPA and Allianz Care Telehealth customers benefit from free access. 

All medical information in this review is provided as guidance only. Conduct your research for up-to-date pricing and service quality, in particular, and contact your primary healthcare provider for individualised and comprehensive medical care. 

Telehealth services do not aim to replace primary care, lack some of the information available to doctors during physical appointments, and often cannot follow up in the same way. If you are unsure about your diagnosis or your condition worsens, contact your GP or attend your local A&E after hours.  

[1] https://www.productreview.com.au/listings/doctors-on-demand
[2] https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.doctorsondemand.app&hl=en_AU