Research shows Healthdirect is transforming how Australians access healthcare

Our latest research shows that the national Healthdirect virtual triage service is reshaping how consumers engage with the health system.

Published in the Mayo Clinic Proceedings: Digital Health, the paper shows that helping consumers choose the most appropriate care option for their situation, including telehealth and virtual appointments, the helpline is redirecting 62% consumers safely away from emergency departments to alternative care in 2025.

The Healthdirect service helps consumers get the right care at the right time

The Healthdirect helpline is staffed by nurses, supported by an AI-assisted clinical decision-support tool to help consumers find the right care for their health concern. The helpline takes over 1,400,000 calls each year and helps to distribute demand more appropriately across the health system by improving the alignment between the urgency of consumers' needs and the most suitable and available care pathway.

Findings show growing confidence and accessibility in Healthdirect services

Over 1.5 million Healthdirect consumer records from April 2023 to March 2025 were evaluated by the researchers. Key findings from the data show:

Trust in decision-making: Consumers who were unsure what type of medical care they needed at the start of the call were able to confidently choose the right care pathway by the end of the call. This level of uncertainty dropped from 43% to 0.2%, showing how AI-assisted virtual triage service is helping people navigate a complex health system.

Accessing the right care: As the helpline connects to urgent care clinics, GPs, virtual GPs and other primary care health options, more consumers can choose the right, non-urgent care option for their needs. The number of consumers opting for non-urgent care nearly doubled, from 21% to 53%.

Accessible and equitable care: Positive changes were seen across people of all demographics, highlighting that virtual triage is accessible and effective for a diverse population and supports equitable access to care options. Aboriginal and Indigenous consumers showed high engagement with the service.

Increased uptake in alternative care pathways: Use of virtual ED options increased (0.6% to 8.8%). By adding additional care pathways in New South Wales, South Australia and Victoria, consumers can access the right non-urgent care pathways for their needs.

Easing pressure on emergency departments: Higher usage of the service, more care options for consumers, and increased familiarity with telehealth are factors that contributed to a decrease in consumers thinking they needed to go to the emergency departments by the end of their call, dropping from 37% to 25%.

Harnessing AI on our helpline

With one of the largest virtual clinical workforces in Australia, over 750 registered nurses apply their clinical judgement on the helpline every day. These skills and expertise of these nurses are further strengthened by the integration of an AI-assisted virtual triage.

The AI tools integrated into our services draw from an extensive, clinically validated evidence base, ensuring the health advice we provide to consumers is trustworthy and consistent. This approach strengthens the quality and safety of our guidance, supporting confidence and reliability in the care we deliver.

"AI-assisted virtual triage doesn't replace clinical judgment; from this research we can see that our nurses agree with AI recommendations in 83% of cases. This type of technology, with the right governance controls, gives them better tools and our consumers receive clearer guidance on the health care they need," concludes Mr Burger.

You can read more about how Healthdirect responsibly uses AI in the Artificial Intelligence Transparency Statement.