What comes next for primary care?

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With technology evolving at a rapid pace, what does this mean for healthcare, for general practice, and for patient care?

 

That is what this year’s Digital Health Festival explored – transforming healthcare through connection.

 

In 2025, the Melbourne event brought together more than 8000 attendees to listen to 400 speakers and visit 200 exhibitors and 200 startups.

 

RACGP President Dr Michael Wright attended the event and said that with a high number of GPs in attendance, evolving technologies and the future of healthcare is of great interest to the profession.

 

‘It’s about trying to bring lots of people from tech together to meet with clinicians to try and help make sure the digital transformation we’re trying to do in healthcare keeps clinicians and patients at the centre,’ he told newsGP.

 

‘What struck me is the number of GPs here trying to make sure technology is used in our practices to help our patients, but also to make our day-to-day life as a GP easier and more enjoyable.’

 

Dr Wright spoke on a panel at the festival exploring, ‘what comes next for primary care?’.

 

He was joined on the panel by GP and Newcastle practice owner Dr Max Mollenkopf, KeyReply Chief Strategy Officer Eric Pallay, and Updoc Chief Medical Officer Dr Jamie Phillips, chaired by Health Services Daily journalist Wendy John.

 

‘I spoke about the future of primary care and the need to make better use of our GPs and the broader primary care workforce, the need to work together, and the need to use technology to help us provide care more efficiently,’ Dr Wright said.

 

‘I’m trying to be positive in that it’s really great to see so many people here contributing and making sure that digital solutions are improving patient care and not fragmenting it.’

(L–R) Lyrebird Health’s Kai Van Lieshout, RMIT Professor Karin Verspoor, Microsoft’s Dr Simon Kos, and GP and Australian Digital Health Agency Chief Clinical Advisor, Dr Amandeep Hansra. 

GPs were an integral addition to the festival’s panel discussions and presentations, including a presentation on ‘Inside the AI scribe-off: Brilliance or bedlam?’ by Dr Sean Stevens and Dr Darran Foo.

 

GP and Australian Digital Health Agency Chief Clinical Advisor Dr Amandeep Hansra was also part of a panel discussion on ‘Safeguarding innovation: Privacy and security in AI-driven healthcare’.

 

Reflecting on the festival, Dr Wright said there are several things he will take away and put into place in his own practice, such as ways to improve workflow and appointment systems.

 

However, he said there is still much to be done in the digital healthcare space to make work easier for GPs, practice owners, and healthcare providers more broadly.

 

‘One of the things that we need to make better use of is the data we are collecting from our patients across the health system, and there were lots of conversations about how we can get systems talking together, if not being interoperable,’ Dr Wright said.

 

‘I know we’ve been talking about it for a long time, but there does really feel like there’s a real momentum here, and that there’s access to useful, shareable health records.’

 

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