Ribboncare Review

Bottom Line:

Highly affordable, swift end-to-end musculoskeletal telehealth solution with a responsive customer care team, providing access to specialists within 48 hours, referrals, and bulk-billed MRIs. 

Ribboncare offers virtual access to specialists for musculoskeletal injuries via telehealth, including reviews, new injuries assessments, follow-ups, and bulk-billed MRI referrals.

Pros and Cons

Pros:

1. Fast, direct access to specialist services, not offered by comprehensive telehealth providers such as Hola Health. 

2. Affordable pricing compared to face-to-face specialists and competitive with other specialist providers such as Doctor On Call. 

3. Responsive customer support. 

4. End-to-end care for musculoskeletal injuries, including bulk-billed MRIs. 

Cons: 

1. Specialised in musculoskeletal injuries only. 

2. Not fully bulk-billed like Abby Health. 

3. Website has limited information available.

4. Full process managed via messaging or phone call, giving less transparency than most other sites I’ve vetted. 

Available Services

Online Musculoskeletal Specialist Care and Bulk-Billed MRI Referrals

Ribboncare is a specialist telehealth provider with one focus: musculoskeletal care. This niche approach sets it apart from most telehealth providers and streamlines access to fast specialist care for relevant injuries. Bulk-billing is a part of the model, with Ribboncare referring to bulk-billing MRI providers for the scan. Here’s how the end-to-end process works: 

Follow-Ups: Follow-up with a specialist to review the MRI results and discuss treatment options, such as physiotherapy. 

Patient Registration: Patient registration and intake questionnaire took me two minutes and led to a callback and text within half an hour, as my injury was suitable for Ribboncare. The customer support team helps you book and answers any questions. 

MRI: You have your MRI at a local provider and receive an automated follow-up to help collect the report for Ribboncare. 

Customer Support: The customer support team helps you find bulk billing MRI providers near you. 

Consultation: Prep consult to discuss your issue. 

Specialist Consult: Specialist consult to discuss your injury and obtain an MRI referral.

Pricing and Speed

Flat Fee of $149 for Full Specialist Process 

Ribboncare offers a fully managed process for a flat fee of $149. This includes all services, and there are no out-of-pocket costs for the MRI either, as you’ll receive a referral for bulk billing. This is a highly specialised service that could cost hundreds of dollars for the two specialist appointments alone, if you go to a traditional private specialist practice. Ribboncare’s approach represents a significantly more affordable option than most other services. Other specialised telehealth providers offer a single specialist appointment for less, but this does not include the follow-up and the customer support, intake call, MRI referral and help in booking pre- and post-MRI. In fact, the total cost is highly affordable, even compared to other telehealth providers.

When I contacted the provider, they had an intake consult slot available the next day and a specialist slot within 2 days. This is also mentioned as their standard wait time and is similar to other telehealth specialist providers. There are very few same-day specialist providers.

User Experience

Ribboncare User Interface and Website 

Unlike most comprehensive telehealth providers, this specialised platform has very limited information on its website. It also has a dual intake stream for practitioners and patients, which I found a little confusing at first glance.

However, once you have clicked on the “access now” button, things take a turn. The user interface is simple and responsive. Essentially, after answering a two-minute questionnaire, I was deemed eligible (based on my injury and being a Medicare cardholder) and contacted by the customer care team.

Similar to NewDoc, Ribboncare’s website is more of a placeholder, with the real communication with patients happening through the functionality behind the registration portal.

While this is convenient and fast and saves downloading an actual app, it means less agency on behalf of the patient, as I had to ask for every bit of information, instead of looking it up. This means that the solution works well, as long as the team is online, but answers may otherwise be delayed.

It also means that if you take their phone call and forget the answers, or lose the text, you may need to start from scratch.

It feels like a solution for modern patients, as it mimics the way we find information by asking AI. If you are more old school and like to research yourself or find answers on the business’s website, it may not be the best for you. (But I’m sure they would gladly send you information, as they were responsive and helpful – and I asked a lot of questions.) 

There are no other user reviews, as the business was only established in September 2024 [1], and started operating 9 months prior to my review [2]. As a niche MSI telehealth provider, it would have had a much smaller patient volume than large, comprehensive telehealth providers.

Privacy and Data Security

Based on the disclaimer displayed on Ribboncare’s website, the telehealth provider operates as a directory “to help users find and connect with local health clinics”, which I understand as partnered specialists providing the services.

The site also allows partners to sign up.

Due to its dual purpose, it has a slightly extended but standard privacy policy for a small to medium size Australian telehealth provider.

Basically, the first paragraph about how Ribboncare collects data sums it up rather well:

“We will collect your personal information in a lawful and fair way. We will only collect your personal information where you have consented to it, or otherwise in accordance with the law.”

What follows essentially outlines how Ribboncare comply with the Australian Privacy Act. Your data is securely stored, handled, accessed and shared. This includes your personal, financial, health, and online activity data.

Customer Support

Responsive and Customer Care-Focused 

Customer service is built into Ribboncare's business model. Within half an hour of registering online, I received a call and text from the support team to help guide me through the booking process. The process was managed closely and expertly from there by a customer care agent. As I opted for text, responses took a few minutes at times, but they were always spot-on and exceeded my expectations. All my questions were answered swiftly and fully.

Due to the lack of online user reviews, I couldn’t check other users’ experiences.

Affordable, Swift End-to-End MSI Telehealth Solution 

Ribboncare has cornered a niche through highly competitive pricing, responsive customer service, and end-to-end musculoskeletal telehealth care. As specialist appointments can be hard to obtain quickly and often require being very proactive to organise MRIs and follow-ups, this is a solution for patients seeking much shorter wait times than, for example, in bulk-billed hospital clinics. (Where wait times often exceed months, if you can get in.) It also significantly reduces the cost of multiple specialist appointments.

All information on this page is independently researched and verified. We have made every effort to provide the most accurate and up-to-date information in this review. However, please ensure you check the most current pricing and service information before booking.

Telehealth is recommended in addition to primary care and cannot provide the same accuracy as in-person physical assessments by your GP. Consult your primary healthcare provider for comprehensive and personalised medical advice.

[1] https://abr.business.gov.au/ABN/View?id=58680730965

[2] https://www.linkedin.com/posts/dr-tom-lee-37495a128_im-excited-to-announce-the-launch-of-our-activity-7303168687996379136-pDDk