Market Research

Why no national service covers daytime GP home visits in Australia

After-hours GP home visit services are everywhere. Daytime services are almost nowhere. The reason is structural — and it explains exactly why the daytime gap remains one of the most significant unmet needs in Australian primary care. Sources listed at the end of this post.

The Medicare structure that creates the gap

According to Abby Health's guide to after-hours GP care in Australia, Medicare defines standard business hours as weekdays 8am to 6pm and Saturdays 8am to noon. After-hours covers weekdays before 8am and after 6pm, all day Saturday from noon, and all day Sunday and public holidays. Within these after-hours periods, Medicare pays significantly higher rebates for GP consultations to reflect the inconvenience and urgency of care outside standard hours.

After-hours home visit services like 13SICK, Hello Home Doctor, DoctorDoctor, 13CURE, and OnCallDrs are built specifically around these higher after-hours rebates. By bulk billing patients under after-hours Medicare item numbers, they can provide home visits at no cost to eligible patients and still be financially viable. During standard business hours, those higher rebates don't apply — making bulk-billed daytime home visits financially unsustainable. So the after-hours services simply don't operate during business hours.

Who is left without a service

The patients who most need daytime home visits are exactly the ones the after-hours services were never designed to serve. Elderly patients who need regular GP care during the day. Chronically ill patients who require monitoring during standard hours. Post-surgical patients following discharge. Patients with mobility or transport limitations who cannot safely attend a clinic. Parents with young children who cannot leave home during the day. None of these are after-hours emergency presentations — they are standard daytime primary care needs for patients who cannot physically access a clinic.

Perth Home GP proves the daytime model works

Perth Home GP was founded in 2020 specifically because its founder recognised that the daytime gap was the real unmet need in Australian healthcare — not after-hours emergency care. The service operates a private billing model for daytime visits, charging patients upfront and allowing them to claim the Medicare rebate afterward. According to their published fee schedule, patients pay $150 out of pocket after the rebate for a standard 20-minute daytime visit. The service has operated continuously since 2020, is actively recruiting GPs, and serves the entire Perth metropolitan area. No equivalent national service exists.

C.A.L.L.S fills the gap nationally

C.A.L.L.S is a membership-based GP home visit marketplace operating on a private billing model — the only model that works during business hours. GPs set their own fees, keep 100 percent of every consultation fee, and access patients through a platform built for in-home care. Patients pay the GP's fee directly and claim their Medicare rebate afterward. No bulk billing required. No dependence on after-hours item numbers.