Telehealth impersonation prompts warning over drug dependence prescriptions
18 Sep 2026
The warning comes after reports of people contacting medical practices and using common names to book telehealth appointments.
In some cases, callers reportedly asked reception staff to update details such as their phone number before claiming to be an existing patient.
One GP told newsGP that a caller appeared to be a known patient and reported abdominal pain after an alleged hospital visit for kidney stones. The caller then requested opioid pain medicine.
The GP said the deception was discovered several days later when the practice contacted the genuine patient.
RACGP Victoria Chair Dr Anita Muñoz said practices should be alert to attempts to change patient identifiers, particularly phone numbers and addresses.
She recommended that changes to these details be made in person with suitable photo identification where possible.
Dr Muñoz also advised practices to confirm a patient's identity at the start of telehealth consultations, including their date of birth and address.
Avant Medical Advisor Dr Patrick Clancy said doctors should be cautious about telephone-only requests for new drugs of dependence.
Where concerns arise, doctors can ask about information in the patient's clinical history or request photo identification and a Medicare card.
Dr Clancy also said practices could consider a policy that does not allow drugs of dependence to be prescribed for new conditions based only on telephone consultations.
He noted that identifying impersonation can be difficult, particularly when someone appears to have access to an existing patient's records.
Telehealth impersonation prompts warning over drug dependence prescriptions
Source: RACGP newsGP