Simple Online Doctor Review

Bottom Line:

Discreet and fully handled medication and treatment order and delivery service, including telehealth consultations with doctors. Prepare for slow service. 

Simple Online Doctor is a prescription-based online service that offers telehealth consultations with AHPRA-registered doctors and dietitians. The provider handles all aspects of ordering non-urgent medication from questionnaire to delivery. Conditions treated with medication only include weight loss, men’s and women’s health issues such as hair loss or acne, and general health conditions such as quitting smoking. The provider’s services are similar to those of competitor Burst Health. 

Pros and Cons

Pros:

1. Fully managed prescription delivery service from booking to discreet delivery, similar to Burst Health. 

2. Highly rated by users with five-out-of-five stars on other review platforms until recent website update. 

3. Virtual consultations with AHPRA-registered doctors to access treatment. 

4. Online dietitian consults are available as one-offs for $120. 

Cons: 

1. Telehealth consultations exclusively for prescription-based treatments, unlike general online doctor consults at competitors, such as DoctorsOnDemand. 

2. Slow process from booking to delivery (up to 5 days), slower than InstantScripts. 

3. Non-urgent prescriptions only, no other services, unlike most telehealth providers, which focus on providing timely access to medication when you need it.

Available Services

Prescriptions: Non-Urgent Prescriptions Only Service, Plus Telehealth Dietitians. Primarily, Simple Online Doctor is a prescription-based service, which offers medication for up to 12 months, though not as a subscription like, for example, Burst Health.  It also offers online dietitian appointments without referral. Follow-ups are free.

Medication Delivery: Once and if the AHPRA-registered doctor has approved your medication, the script is sent to Simple Online Doctor’s Partner Pharmacy in Queensland.  Pharmacy checks and dispensing take up to 12 hours before the medication is sent.  Delivery to eligible postcodes (listed on the site) typically takes 1-2 days. (Some medication has to be kept cool, so you have to contact the provider if your delivery is delayed.) 

Medication-based Treatment: For medication-based treatment, the initial step is to select your condition and fill in a detailed questionnaire before waiting for a doctor to get back to you. None of the conditions treated are urgent, and the doctor may take up to 2 days to get back to you. The conditions are grouped into weight care, men’s and women’s health issues, as well as some general health issues requiring ongoing management, as listed on the site.   

Doctor Advice: No doctor’s advice available.  

Assistance With Urgent Care: No assistance with urgent care. 

Bulkbilling: No bulkbilling available.  

Pricing and Speed

Slow Service but Fully Handled from Request to Delivery 

The pricing is very simple, with a flat fee of $25 for the initial doctor’s consultation. Initial consults with telehealth dietitians cost $120, follow-ups $70. (No referral needed.)

The cost of prescriptions is only stated as a daily rate for most treatments. This is in line with other private prescription providers, like Burst Health. 

Wait times for the initial order can be long (up to 2 days for the doctor’s assessment, 12 hours for the pharmacy’s processing, 1-2 days for delivery in metro regions, or up to 5 days elsewhere). The ID verification process can delay your initial order.

According to Simple Online Doctor, reordering should be faster, provided a doctor is available. This wait for your medication is much longer than for premium telehealth services like Prime Medic. But not all telehealth providers handle the pharmacy and delivery process, making Simple Online Doctor more convenient than some faster competitors, including Instant Consult. 

User Experience

Modern and Simple Website 

• Simple Online Doctor’s website is easy to navigate thanks to its top menu offering the most relevant service choices.
• While the site is easy to navigate, key information like pricing, delivery times and email contact is either not mentioned or only available by clicking through several pages. The FAQs hold a lot of relevant information, similar to the somewhat similar-looking Hub Health site.
• The booking and delivery process reads simple enough. However, the doctor approval process takes longer than the graphics on the homepage suggest and is only available several pages into the site. 

This modern site is relatively easy to use, if your main focus is on initiating the process to get yourself prescriptions for ongoing treatments, such as contraception, weight loss, erectile dysfunction or hair loss medication. The reordering is also easy to do with a prominent button and does not require booking another doctor’s consult.

Privacy and Data Security

Strong and Clear Privacy Policy 

Simple Online Doctor complies with the Privacy Act 1988, including the Australian Privacy Principles.

Its privacy policy aims to manage your data openly and transparently. Its policy is described in detail and outlines the measures taken to keep your data safe, including but not limited to: 

• Storing your data in Australia 
• Only giving access to trained and authorized personnel
• Encrypting your data 
• Using it for purposes related to delivering the service requested by you only. 
• Secure storage facilities and backups 
• Notifying users of any breaches 

Similar to the very detailed privacy policy on premium providers’ sites such as Prime Medic, Simple Online Doctor’s privacy policy page informs you of your rights regarding your data. It gives you clear instructions on how to access, question, or ask for its deletion. 

Customer Support

Slow Customer Service with Limited Contact Options 

Customer support is relatively hard to reach – with a slow response - compared to most other telehealth sites, such as Updoc. There is only one contact option available via webform, which customers say can take several days to respond. The 24/7 chatbot cannot help with account-related problems. 

Simple Online Doctor has a large number of five-star reviews on other review platforms, with an overall rating of 4.5 stars, although there have been more negative reviews since a website update a few months ago and reviews on TrustPilot are much more negative [1]. These have been primarily left by long-term customers who state problems reaching customer service, money being held in review and high prices. Since the update, some customers also had to re-register, meaning they had to pay for a new consultation instead of continuing with their medication as planned. 

Treatment through Ongoing Prescription Service Plus Telehealth Dietitians

Simple Online Doctor is a discreet and fully handled medication order and delivery service that specialises in treatment for long-term conditions requiring ongoing medication, such as weight loss, contraception, acne, erectile dysfunction, and hair loss. The ordering cost is low compared to competitors, but you don't receive the same level of advice you would on a premium telehealth site like Prime Medic. Because customer service can be hard to reach and slow to respond, it is best to order in advance and track your order status yourself. This service has consistently high consumer ratings, other than issues related to a recent website update and customer service availability. 

The information presented in this article is for informational purposes only. It is researched and fact-checked. Before engaging any telehealth provider, it is advisable to do your own due diligence and to contact your primary medical provider, where possible. 

Telehealth is designed to complement your primary doctor’s care and lacks the oversight, physical assessment and care your GP can deliver. If you have any medical questions, please contact your GP.

[1] https://www.trustpilot.com/review/simpleonlinedoctor.com.au