InstantScripts Review

Bottom Line:

Extensive service offering through partners. Mixed wait times and pricing. Mostly highly rated. 

Comprehensive telehealth services, including psychologist consultations, alternative therapies, as well as menopause and weight loss assistance. Prices are mainly in the mid-range of other providers, and wait times vary considerably. Services are delivered by AHPRA-registered doctors, some specialised GPs and psychologists. Fast medication delivery available via Instant Scripts’ partner pharmacies.

Pros and Cons

Pros:

1. Extensive range of services including specialised ones, beating out most providers, including Hola Health. 

2. Fast medication delivery through partnership with Priceline Pharmacies. 

3. 24/7 provider, like Next Clinic. 

Cons: 

1. Wait times vary, while other providers, such as Hola Health, offer consultations within 15 minutes. 

2. Some services, including mental health care, are more expensive than on comparable sites like Qoctor. 

3. There have been some questions around Instant Scripts’ advertising [3], prescription policies [5], and acquisition by Wesfarmers [4]. 

Available Services

One of the Most Comprehensive Range of Telehealth Service Offerings 

One of the most comprehensive telehealth service providers in Australia, with an even more extensive offering than premium providers like Prime Medic. For example, Instant Scripts offers psychologist and alternative therapy consultations as well. However, Instant Scripts offers no fully bulk-billed services - its mental health care plans still require a gap fee. This service is entirely free on some telehealth sites, including Qoctor. 

Online Prescriptions: Prescription repeats can be requested via questionnaire and doctor’s review, while new or multi-scripts require a doctor’s consultation. They can be delivered via eScript token to your phone, filled online for delivery, or ordered via Click & Collect. 

Pathology Referrals: Pathology referral requests are made by online form and sent to you within minutes, if approved by a doctor.

Doctor Consultations: Doctors’ consultations have no time limit or staggered pricing, such as at Healthy Life and other providers, where after-hours costs more, for example. 

Medication Delivery: Medication delivery within four hours or same day, depending on patients’ location. This is faster than most other services, such as Hub Health. 

Menopause Treatment Plans: Menopause treatment plans are mapped out with GPs specialising in menopause. You can order ongoing medication via eScript follow-ups. 

Mental Health Plans: Mental health care appointments, plans, and medication are all available via Instant Scripts’ service. Psychologist consultations are available via Instant Scripts’ partner My Mirror [2], a telehealth mental health care provider.  

UTI Treatment: UTIs can be addressed with a quick and more affordable doctor’s consultation, as highlighted on the site. 

Weight Loss Support: Weight loss treatments start with an online questionnaire, followed by a consultation with a weight management expert and, if appropriate, an eScript sent to you. Follow-ups and check-ins are scheduled for ongoing support. Similar plans are available via monthly subscription, for example, on Updoc’s site. 

Fertility Services: Fertility services are available via specialist referrals, blood tests, and eScrips.  

Medical Certificate: Medical certificates for work, school, uni, or carer’s leave are available by questionnaire and doctor review. Multi-day certificates require a consultation. They are sent to you by email within minutes. 

Alternative Therapy: Alternative therapy is available, but there is no specific information on the site. 

Specialist Referral: Specialist referrals are requested by online form, and some (listed on site) can be approved by doctor review if clinically appropriate. Others require a doctor’s consultation. 

Pricing and Speed

Mixed Consultation Wait Times and Prices  

Instant Scripts lives up to its name with fast delivery of some repeat prescriptions and single-day certificates available within minutes. However, wait times for doctors’ consultations vary. Some are with AHPRA-registered doctors, others with specialised GPs.  Similar to Abby Health, Instant Scripts shows you the current wait time before booking. During my research, it ranged from 30 minutes to 2hours 45 minutes, which means the service is in the mid-range of providers, rather than among the fastest providers that offer consults within 15 minutes.  

Instant Scripts offers fast turnaround on sending eScripts, certificates, or referrals, and also provides mid-range speed on medication delivery. 

Pricing on Instant Scripts is similarly mixed. At the same time, there are no fully bulk-billed services available like on Prime Medic, but some of the lowest prices for select services. Some services are priced much higher than at competitors, for example, psychologist consultations. Here is the breakdown. 

• Doctors’ consultations with no time limit or surcharges, including quit smoking, skin conditions/ care, and fertility, for $49 
• Mental health assessments and care plans for a gap fee of $49 
• Prescriptions: $19 for repeats and $49 for new or multiple prescriptions requiring a consultation 
• Medical certificates cost $19 for a single day and $49 for multiple days (including carers’ leave, work, school) 
• Pathology/ specialist referrals cost $24 

• Weight loss consults and plans for $89 
• Menopause GP consultations for $89 
• Psychologist consultations cost $228 
• Alternative therapy consultation for $190 
• UTI- specific consultations cost $34 

Note: we do not vouch for InstantScripts' privacy standards; we are just sharing information from their policy. 

User Experience

User-friendly and Transparent Website

• Multiple ways to access Instant Scripts’ service menu, including by hovering over service description, bypassing the information by selecting to book now or read more, make this provider’s site one of the most intuitive to navigate. 
• Instant Scripts’ website forgoes marketing information and text-heavy descriptions by using visual cues, such as imagery and pictograms. In addition to listing top conditions, it also offers a search bar. Most importantly, there are multiple ways to access services in the top menu, on the home page, and the bottom menu, as well as on the various pages.  
• The page highlights the business’s selling points, such as partnering with NSW Health, Priceline Pharmacies, and RACGP, rather than marketing copy, setting it apart from services such as Healthy Life, which rely on offers, marketing copy, and cross-selling on their sites. 
• Pricing and wait times are advertised. The service includes additional pricing information on the individual services’ pages, such as the cost of scripts and follow-up consultations. This pricing transparency sets it apart from sites such as Burst Health, where prices are not readily available. 
• The booking process is accessible on most pages and easy to follow. However, the delivery of services isn’t always up to patients’ expectations, according to several hundred reviews on TrustPilot [6], which state mistakes made by doctors due to language barriers, misunderstanding medication request details, or patient data. The site shows 50% one-star reviews, which is unusual in the telehealth industry. 

This site’s focus on functionality and key information makes it faster to navigate and get to where you want to go. It makes the site less cluttered and user-friendly.  

Privacy and Data Security

Instant Scripts Clearly Outlines Its Privacy Policy and Your Rights

Instant Scripts sets out its privacy policy very clearly, in an easy-to-understand way. The service complies with the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth).  

Australian Digital Health Agency registered provider, which means that you can access your data via MyHealth.Gov [1]. As Instant Scripts partners with medical bodies and government agencies, it is subject to greater scrutiny than some other services.  

Your data is securely handled and safely stored. Instant Scripts does partner with different providers, such as Priceline Pharmacies and My Mirror, so you may want to check their privacy policies, too, if you have your medication delivered or select one of the add-on services offered by its partners. 

When you use Instant Scripts, you automatically opt in to marketing communication. Every message has an option to opt out.  

However, Instant Scripts may share your contact details with some of Google and Facebook’s third-party vendors.  

Its acquisition by Wesfarmers has also raised some questions regarding what data may be shared with other companies that are part of the group [4]. 

Customer Support

Mostly Highly Rated Customer Service 

From Instant Scripts’ Online Help Centre over live chat, 1300 number, and email contact options, the provider makes it easy to access customer service – quickly.  

Thousands of reviews on Google, the App Store [7] and other review platforms rank the service close to five stars out of five. This includes the 24/7 customer service availability and helpfulness. 

However, most recently, there have been more negative reviews owing in part to Instant Scripts changing its approach to prescribing medication, following investigations by the Australian Medical Board.  Also, the reviews state that wait times sometimes advertised are revised repeatedly and can take up to 12 hours, with no assistance offered by customer support. 

Finally, on TrustPilot [6], over 50% of reviews are one-star reviews. Some customers state that there have been some recent language barriers. 

Comprehensive, Mostly Affordable, and Fast Provider 

Instant Scripts offers a greater range of services than most telehealth competitors, encompassing psychologist consultations, specialised menopause treatment plans, affordable UTI care, fertility plans, weight management, fast medication delivery, and more—outpacing Prime Medic and other premium providers. Instant Scripts uses the help of various partners to provide its extensive range of services at costs lower than most GP clinics’ gap fees. It does not, however, beat out all competitors on price and wait time. Instant Scripts is user-friendly and transparent about its services and pricing. However, Instant Scripts has been implicated in questions around its practice of prescribing without a doctor’s consultation, its advertising policy, and its acquisition by Wesfarmers [5, 3, 4]. 

All information is independently researched and evaluated. It does not represent medical advice. Please check all relevant details yourself before booking with a telehealth provider. 

Telehealth services are designed to complement your primary doctor’s care, not act as a replacement. It does not provide the same level of care and continuity due to its remote nature. Please ensure you contact your GP with any concerns or medical questions you may have. 

[1] https://www.aihw.gov.au/reports/australias-health/digital-health#:~:text=Australian%20Digital%20Health%20Agency%20My%20Health%20Record
[2] https://www.mymirror.com.au/get-matched/?rf=instant-scripts
[3] https://www.tga.gov.au/news/media-releases/tga-and-instantscripts-reach-settlement
[4] https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2023/sep/13/instantscripts-patient-data-ownership-links-pharmacies-kmart-bunnings-wesfarmers]
[5] https://www.smh.com.au/business/companies/instantscripts-founder-slapped-with-conditions-on-medical-registration-20221128-p5c1qz.html
[6] https://au.trustpilot.com/review/instantscripts.com.au
[7] https://apps.apple.com/au/app/instantscripts/id1456598384