HCF Sheena Jack, HCF Chief Strategy Officer Sheena Jack said the investment in GP2U demonstrated “HCF's commitment to supporting innovation to deliver better health care to all Australians”.

“Telehealth has the ability to dramatically improve the convenience and accessibility of health care. We are delighted to be a part of GP2U and have been impressed with both the end-to-end technology platform and the team behind it.”

GP2U founder, Dr James Freeman, remains the majority shareholder of the company and listed diagnostics company Sonic Healthcare - who took a similar stake to HCF in November last year - and Medical One co-founder Dr Andrew Pascoe, are also shareholders in the company.

Jack said HCF was constantly looking for new ways to support its members “in caring for their health”.

“An initial pilot program will be run to ensure the telehealth services are scaled to the wider HCF membership as smoothly as possible.

“With only one doctor per 3,000 rural Australians, compared with one doctor per 1,000 in Australian cities, there is growing demand for reliable telehealth services. Our research indicates especially for those in regional and rural Australia, the ability to undertake a medical consultation from the comfort of their home is very appealing.”

GP2U also provides added convenience where prescriptions are required. Once the GP approves a prescription it is sent directly to the pharmacy for collection. GP2U has agreements in place with Terry White Chemists and Priceline to provide pharmacy services.

“GP2U has a history of innovation and in line with this history we are excited to launch two exciting new developments this month – a decision to support tool to guide treatment options for Hep C medication and a weight loss program through a stand-alone website – www.theweightlossgp.com.au,” Dr Freeman said.

Dr Freeman said GP2U has significant experience in helping Hep C patients, and the welcomed recent announcement regarding Hep C medication on the PBS means that a “significant volume of patients will be looking to access this treatment”.

“Approximately 250,000 people in Australia have Hep C and these tools will help enable doctors to deal with the huge increase in people seeking treatment.”