"Information asymmetry resulting in an imbalance to point-of-care interactions"

In the beginning of the month, I had an appointment with a specialist in the Tangney Electoral District. I was expecting to receive my initial injection which is part of a long term treatment for my grass allergy (hayfever). I was taken by surprise that I was not going to have my initial injection as the pharmaceutical product needed to be ordered from overseas. I signed the script/form with my credit card details. As I understand it, the form would then be either faxed or emailed to the company overseas so that my injections would be made under my name. Later, I was expected to pay over a hundred dollars (Medicare rebate around $60) for what I felt was a <10mins consult with the specialist. I felt that this consultation could be easily done over the phone instead of an in-person appointment.

Based on my experience, I believe this consultation was very costly and inefficient. I drove almost 80mins (40mins each way x2) to have a <10mins consultation. I felt there was also a lack of communication (via email) about what to expect from this appt. As someone who worked as a medical receptionist for years, I have learnt that patients can call their doctors for scripts to continue their meds (to avoid potential delays) without visiting the clinic in person if they had a recent consultation with their doctor (<6months). The script can then be faxed to the patient and/or a preferred chemist. My last visit to this clinic was almost 3 months ago.

I just wished that I had the option of having a short telehealth/phone appt. I believe the clinic can easily email the script/form to me and then I could easily send the form to the company overseas via email.