Digital GP platform launches in New Zealand to ease clinic strain

A digital healthcare platform has launched in New Zealand aiming to help reduce pressure on general practice clinics by shifting non-urgent health consultations online. The telehealth provider, Moshy, starts local operations with a team of five registered practitioners and 17 support staff, specifically offering GP consultations to support weight loss in its initial phase.

GP shortages

The move comes amid ongoing workforce shortages in New Zealand's general practice sector. The Royal New Zealand College of General Practitioners reports there are currently 74 GPs per 100,000 people in the country, compared to 116 in Australia and 122 in Canada. The College also anticipates that, without intervention, the GP-to-population ratio could drop to 70 per 100,000 by 2031, further intensifying access issues for patients.

Consultation capacity

Moshy has a team of 40 doctors and specialists globally, with an annual capacity for 50,000 consultations. In Australia, the platform provides digital medical appointments for more than 150,000 patients annually across areas such as weight management, skin health, sexual health and hair loss. The company intends to introduce more services to New Zealand-including dermatology, travel consultations and general health support-over the coming year.

Reducing in-person visits

The provider expects its model to divert up to 17,000 in-person GP appointments to online care each year. Each patient typically consults a practitioner multiple times annually, contributing to this projected reduction in face-to-face bookings. The aim is to free up clinic availability for those requiring acute or complex care, as demand continues to outpace the capacity of brick-and-mortar practices.

Addressing access barriers

Data from Massey University's EHINZ suggests that some 159,000 New Zealanders missed out on GP appointments last year due to lack of transport. The issue disproportionately affects Maori, Pasifika, disabled, and lower-income populations. By offering postcode-agnostic telehealth appointments, the provider seeks to improve access for these underserved communities.

"We started the platform to address unmet needs and conditions that are stigmatised, dismissed or overlooked in busy practices. We're not here to replace GPs. We're here to work alongside them, specialising in areas where we can provide fast, effective care and free up primary care resources. In Australia, we've delivered hundreds of thousands of consultations and that's a huge amount of pressure taken off bricks-and-mortar clinics. The demand in rural and regional areas has surprised us. These communities are underserved, and telehealth is giving them access they have never had," said Dr Kieran Dang, Chief Medical Officer, Moshy.

Demand management

Dang said New Zealand's health system faces a mismatch between rising demand and the limited supply of GPs, noting that training new practitioners requires years and that the current pipeline is insufficient for the country's needs. He argues that digital care models could provide a more immediate solution, particularly for routine or sensitive concerns.

"We're not pretending telehealth is a silver bullet, but it can dramatically reduce pressure on face-to-face services by taking care of common, non-urgent consultations. When we collect detailed health histories and patient information in advance, our clinicians can use their time more efficiently. Patients avoid long waitlists for the specific issues they want to chat to us about. Longer wait times and the growing financial and opportunity costs of seeing a doctor mean many patients arrive with a list of multiple medical concerns. When this pattern is repeated across patients, the extra time needed to address several issues in each visit compounds, extending appointment lengths, reducing overall availability and adding significant pressure to an already stretched system. We expect we will also see patients who are wanting greater privacy with issues they may be too embarrassed to raise with their regular GP, especially in small or rural communities," said Dang.

Local staffing

Dr Anasuya Vishvanath, Moshy NZ clinical lead, emphasised that care will be delivered by locally registered doctors and nurses. The digital-only model will provide wraparound services without requiring patients to travel, which may particularly benefit those balancing family and work commitments.

"Telehealth can take pressure off GPs by handling common, less time-sensitive medical concerns. This gives us more time to deal with serious or complex cases. Our model lets us offer a wraparound service without needing to refer out. Many of our patients are women juggling families and jobs. A digital consult that fits their schedule makes healthcare more accessible," said Vishvanath.