The question behind the headlines
When news broke recently about a hantavirus cluster attracting international attention, the response was familiar: a flurry of headlines, questions about transmission, and the usual reassurances that risk to Australians remains low. And for now, that is true. Hantavirus isn’t knocking on our door.
But such stories have a habit of prompting a more useful question than “should I be worried?” and that is whether we are better prepared than we were five years ago. The answer, I think, is yes. Not because of any single policy change, but because the first point of contact between a patient and the healthcare system has changed.
What COVID revealed
COVID was a stress test the system wasn’t ready for. It exposed fault lines that clinicians had quietly observed for years, the fragility of in-person-only access, the inequity caused by geography, and the inability of general practice to absorb sudden surges without putting patients and staff at risk.
Telehealth went from a niche service to a mainstream access point almost overnight. The infrastructure that emerged during those years didn’t disappear when restrictions were lifted. It became part of the system.
The waiting room has moved
A patient experiencing symptoms today doesn’t automatically reach for their car keys, they reach for their phone. They triage digitally, speak to a clinician by video, and get directed from there.
These days a parent with a toddler is quite happy to sit in front of a camera and discuss their health issues with the doctor as opposed to going into a clinic. Traditionally in my clinic, I see a lot of children, especially after 4 pm on weekdays, which is typically after school. However, I have seen a decrease in this trend, and a plausible explanation is that this cohort of patients are switching to telehealth for convenience.
That shift isn’t just convenient. During an outbreak scenario, it is clinically meaningful. A waiting room full of patients with undifferentiated symptoms is simply an administrative inconvenience, and an exposure environment. COVID made that visible in a way that could no longer be politely set aside. The safest waiting room during an outbreak may be no waiting room at all.
What the data shows
The data coming through at Hola Health tells a story. Doctor consultations have grown 165% annually and in rural South Australia, demand has grown by 270%.* This points to a structural shift in how Australians are choosing to access care.
In rural and remote parts of Australia, many patients still face long waits and limited timely access to a GP. Telehealth has become an important access point for these communities, allowing patients to speak with a doctor quickly and receive appropriate early care. It is not a perfect substitute for continuity of care, and there are cases where in-person follow-up remains essential. But in many situations, early intervention through telehealth is far better than no intervention at all.
A layer, not a replacement
It would be a mistake to read any of this as an argument that digital health replaces traditional care. It doesn’t, and it shouldn’t. If someone needs an examination, they need an examination. The role of virtual triage isn’t to substitute, it is to ensure that the patient who genuinely needs a physical presentation gets there quickly, and that the patient who does not is not sent into a waiting room unnecessarily.
What has changed is that digital health is no longer a convenience layer on top of the healthcare system. It is part of the system’s frontline response capability, shaping how demand is managed, how patients are directed, and how the system absorbs pressure during periods of uncertainty.
Telehealth is truly thriving, especially in an era where it’s augmented by wearables that can measure your heartbeat, and in some instances even blood sugar levels. Telehealth fills a real gap by providing patients with trusted alternatives when their regular doctor isn’t available, helping to improve access to healthcare across Australia.
Hantavirus may not become a significant issue for Australia. But stories like this serve a purpose beyond the immediate news cycle. They remind us that healthcare resilience is built long before it is needed. Five years ago, Australia’s digital health infrastructure was real but limited in scale. Today, it operates at a level that simply did not exist before COVID. That is not a reason for complacency. But it is a reason for cautious confidence.
*Data reflects Hola Health platform activity, comparing March 2025 to March 2026.
