Terms of Use

1. Wycombe Telehealth Pty Ltd, trading as “Our Sage” (Our Sage, we, us or our) owns and operates the Our Sage website, accessible at www.oursage.com.au, and Our Sage mobile application (together, the Platform) which facilitates connecting you to independent Australian registered general medical practitioners (Practitioners) who render on-demand telephone-based primary healthcare services to their patients (Telehealth Services). Your use of this Platform and the provision of Telehealth Services is subject to the following terms and conditions (Terms of Use). Each time you access the Platform (including each of the Our Sage website or Our Sage mobile application) or receive Telehealth Services, you agree to be bound to all of the Terms of Use and the Our Sage privacy policy available at www.oursage.com.au/privacy-policy, (Privacy Policy) as may be updated by us from time to time. If you do not agree with these Terms of Use, you must immediately cease using the Platform and any Telehealth Services.

2. Our Sage reserves the right to amend these Terms of Use from time to time. You should check this page each time you access the Platform and receive Telehealth Services and take notice of any changes we may have made to the Terms of Use. Your continued use of the Platform and any Telehealth Services is deemed to be acceptance of the amended Terms of Use.

3. You must not act in any way which breaches these Terms of Use or abuse or misuse the Platform or Telehealth Services in any way including by engaging in illegal or fraudulent activities, supplying or attempting to supply false or misleading information or using the Platform and the Telehealth Services for any other purposes than as intended. If you breach these Terms of Use, Our Sage will immediately terminate the provision of any Telehealth Services and/or cancel your registration on the Platform. Our Sage reserves the right to cancel your registration on the Platform at our sole discretion, without prior notice.

Our Sage

4. Our Sage is not a provider of healthcare services and does not render medical or healthcare services or advice. All Telehealth Services accessed through our Platform are rendered by Practitioners who utilise the Platform to offer Telehealth Services to patients. All Practitioners rendering Telehealth Services utilising the Platform are registered Australian medical practitioners. Our Sage does not represent or guarantee that the Practitioners will hold any additional qualifications or specialist knowledge.

5. By using the Platform to receive Telehealth Services from a Practitioner, you acknowledge and agree that your clinical relationship is established directly and solely with that Practitioner which is independent of Our Sage. It is important to understand that the Platform serves as a gateway to connect you with Practitioners. However, the responsibility for your medical care lies solely with the independent Practitioner you consult with. Our Sage provides no warranty or guarantee as to quality or clinical appropriateness of any of the medical services rendered by the Practitioners providing Telehealth Services or otherwise through the Platform and we exclude, to the extent permitted by law, any liability for any injury, loss or damage suffered by you in connection with the medical services or any other advice or treatment or referrals rendered by a Practitioner providing Telehealth Services.

Telehealth Services

6. Telehealth is a convenient way for patients to obtain access to on-demand telephone based medical services for straightforward and non-emergency medical needs from the comfort of their own homes without the need for in-person visits to healthcare facilities. The Telehealth Services provided through the Platform are not suitable for serious medical conditions or situations requiring immediate or urgent treatment Instead, contact emergency services or visit the nearest healthcare facility without delay.

7. IF YOU ARE EXPERIENCING CHEST PAIN, BREATHING DIFFICULTIES, OR HAVE BEEN INJURED IN A SERIOUS ACCIDENT, OR OTHERWISE REQUIRE IMMEDIATE OR URGENT MEDICAL ASSISTANCE, CALL 000 IMMEDIATELY OR ATTEND YOUR NEAREST HOSPITAL EMERGENCY DEPARTMENT.

8. While the Telehealth Services can offer convenience and accessibility, they are not designed to replace the continuous involvement of your regular general practitioner or other medical professional responsible for managing your day-to-day healthcare needs. Telehealth Services are not appropriate for the management of multiple or serious chronic conditions or multiple prescribed medications. Continuing to see your regular general practitioner and following their recommendations will help ensure that your healthcare needs are properly addressed and managed.

9. There are some circumstances that a Practitioner may be unable to properly assess and treat your symptoms by telephone. In such circumstances, the Practitioner may suggest that you attend your regular general practitioner or attend a nearby medical centre for a physical assessment. Any decision in this regard is a matter of clinical judgment and professional expertise of the Practitioner and Our Sage does not warrant or guarantee the nature of any treatment rendered by a Practitioner via the Telehealth Services. No workers compensation, medico-legal assessments, motor vehicle accident assessments or other assessments requiring a physical examination or extended assessment will be provided via Telehealth Services.

10. Telehealth Services are only available for patients that are located in Australia. You must not use the Platform to procure Telehealth Services if you are outside of Australia.

Consultations

11. Once registered on our Platform, you will be eligible to request the provision of Telehealth Services from an available Practitioner by a telephone consultation (Consultation). When you request a Consultation, you will be placed in the queue for the next available Practitioner who will telephone the number provided by you. If you request an “Priority Consultation” you will be placed at the top of the queue for the next available Practitioner. Our Sage does not provide scheduled appointment times or permit you to choose a nominated practitioner.
12. Whilst Our Sage endeavours to ensure Practitioners are available to render Telehealth Services between 7am to 11 pm Australian Eastern Standard Time (Operating Hours) 7 days a week, we make no guarantee regarding the availability of Telehealth Services at any time or the wait time for Consultations (including “Priority Consultation”). Our Sage reserves the right to terminate your Consultation whilst you are waiting in the queue due to unforeseen circumstances in which circumstance, we will notify you as soon as possible.
13. You may request a “Standard Consultation” which is allocated a duration of up to 10 minutes or a “Long Consultation” with a duration of greater than 10 minutes. Our Sage does not guarantee that all aspects of your condition can be addressed within the allocated 10 minute duration. If, due to the nature of the patient's condition, the Consultation is longer than the 10 minute duration allocation for a “Standard Consultation” then a fee for a “Long Consultation” will be charged.
14. A patient may end a Consultation at any time. Practitioners may discontinue a Consultation at any time or otherwise have the discretion to withhold or decline to provide treatment for reasons they consider reasonable or clinically appropriate. Our Sage will not refund any fees on account of the duration of a Consultation conducted.
15. The Practitioner will attempt to contact you three times on the phone number provided by you at the time of registration. If, after three attempts, you fail to answer, no further attempts will be made to contact you and you will be charged a fee for a “Standard Consultation”. This fee will not be refundable.
16. If you suffer any hearing impairment, you are responsible for any hearing assistance required for a Consultation utilising the Telehealth Services. Our Sage is unable to provide any translation services during Consultations.

Children (15 years and younger)

17. At the time of registration, or when subsequently requesting a Consultation, you may nominate a dependent child of 15 years or younger to receive Telehealth Services during a Consultation. You, as the parent or guardian must be present and available throughout the duration of the Consultation.

Patient information and history

18. To ensure the effectiveness of the Telehealth Services, it is crucial that you provide complete and truthful answers to all questions asked during the Consultation to ensure the appropriateness of treatment and medication. Open and honest communication is essential in ensuring optimal healthcare outcomes. You agree to respond to all questions asked by the Practitioner during the Consultation process. Your accurate and comprehensive answers will assist in determining the most appropriate course of treatment for your condition. You agree to provide accurate and thorough information in your responses and not to omit any relevant information. This includes sharing relevant medical history, symptoms, medications, and any other pertinent details required to assess your condition properly. By being transparent, you contribute to a more accurate evaluation and subsequent treatment plan. It is important to inform the Practitioner about any new symptoms or worsening of your condition that has occurred since your last attendance with a medical practitioner. Timely reporting of changes in your health status enables the Practitioner to make informed decisions regarding your ongoing care and treatment.

Health records

19. By participating in a Consultation, you acknowledge and agree that the Practitioner (and Our Sage on behalf of the Practitioner) may forward to you by email or via the Our Sage mobile application a summary of your attendance.

Medications and other treatments

20. Our Sage does not warrant or guarantee the safety, appropriateness, or effectiveness of any specific medication or treatment prescribed by a Practitioner during a Consultation. While our Platform facilitates the provision of healthcare services and consultations, it is important to understand that the decision to prescribe medication or recommend a particular treatment is made by the Practitioner based on their clinical judgment and professional assessment of your specific circumstances. It is essential that you discuss any concerns or questions you may have about medications or treatments with the Practitioner during your Consultation. They are best positioned to provide you with information and guidance based on their expertise and knowledge.

21. Should you experience any noticeable side-affects from any medications prescribed during the Telehealth Service, you should immediately schedule a further Telehealth Service or attend your regular general practice or medical centre as soon as possible.

22. No S8 (narcotic) or S4D (restricted substance) medicines will be prescribed during Telehealth Services. These include Alprazolam, Codeine painkillers (including Panadeine Forte), Concerta, Dexamphetamine, Diazepam, Duromine, Endone, Gabapentin, Lyrica, Modafinil, Oxazepam, Pregabalin, Ritalin, Seroqual, Stilnox, Steroids, Temazepam, Tramadol, Valium, Vyvanse and Zolpidem.

23. You acknowledge and understand that a Practitioner has the absolute discretion to refuse prescribing medication, issuing repeat prescriptions, or providing any other services or referrals requested by you. The decision to prescribe medication or provide specific services is based on the clinical judgment and professional assessment of the Practitioner, considering factors such as your medical condition, history, and the appropriateness of the requested services.

24. By participating in a Consultation, you acknowledge and agree to be contacted in the event that any results from a pathology or imaging test are received by a Practitioner which require a follow up discussion. It may be that a further Consultation is required to discuss the results received in which case you will be invited to request a further Consultation on the Platform. Usual fees and charges will apply.

25. To the extent permitted by law, we are not responsible for any third-party services provided in response to requests (such as pathology tests or imaging requests) or other specialist referrals or any medication prescriptions made by a Practitioner arising from a Consultation.

Medical Certificates

26. Where clinically appropriate, Practitioners may render a medical certificate. However, Practitioners are unable to provide backdated medical certificates or medical certificates for 3 days or more.

Fees and payment

27. You agree to pay all fees and charges in accordance with these Terms of Use. Whilst we try and ensure that all charges and fees which appear on the Platform are accurate, errors may occur. If we discover an error in the price of any services advertised, we will correct immediately.

28. The amount payable by you will be notified to you at the time you request a Consultation. We strongly recommend that you carefully consider all applicable costs associated with a Consultation before finalising your request.

29. At the time of finalising a request for a Consultation, you authorise Our Sage to perform a standard authorisation check on your payment card to confirm the validity of your payment to ensure there are sufficient funds to fulfil the transaction. This does not result in any charge to you.

30. Following completion of your Consultation, the Practitioner will instruct Our Sage to charge you for the Telehealth Services. On completion of the Consultation, you authorise Our Sage to charge the cost of the Telehealth Services to the payment card details provided in accordance with the fees and charges advertised on the Platform. The pre-authorised payment will not be charged if you cancel the requested Consultation prior to being telephoned by the Practitioner.

31. You acknowledge and agree that Telehealth Services rendered are ineligible for a Medicare benefit under the Medicare Benefits Schedule and you agree not to make any claim for a Medicare benefit in respect of the Telehealth Services rendered.

32. Our Sage will charge you a fee for a “Standard Consultation” if, after making three attempts to contact you by telephone, the Practitioner is unable to reach you. This policy is in place to account for the Practitioner's time and effort in attempting to establish contact with you for the scheduled Consultation and Our Sage’s fees in providing access to the Platform. It is important to ensure that you are available, have adequate mobile phone coverage and otherwise accessible for the Consultation to avoid any potential cancellation fees. If for any reason you anticipate difficulty in being reachable, we recommend you cancel your request for a Consultation and re-request at a more convenient time. You will not be able to cancel your request after a Practitioner has attempted to telephone you.

Refunds

33. Requests for refunds for Consultations are determined at the sole discretion of Our Sage and/or the Practitioner. Subject to those rights which cannot be waived under Australian Consumer Law, refunds will not be available in circumstances where you are dissatisfied with the standard of treatment or medical services rendered during a Consultation. This includes where a Practitioner makes a clinical determination that they are unable to meet your request or otherwise requests that you are physically examined by a medical practitioner in order to provide treatment including prescribe a medication, or if a Practitioner does not provide a medical certificate of more than 3 days or does not prescribe any S8 or S4D medicines.

34. To submit a query in respect of any charges or aspect of the Platform or Telehealth Services, please utilise the "Contact Us" option on the Our Sage website. Whilst we endeavour to respond to your query in a timely manner, the exact timing of a response may vary. Where relevant, we will consult with or refer your query to the relevant Practitioner.

Prohibition

35. You must not misuse the Platform or Our Sage website or mobile app. You will not:

    (a) commit or encourage a criminal offense;

    (b) transmit or distribute a virus, trojan, worm, logic bomb or any other material which is malicious, technologically harmful, in breach of confidence or in any way offensive or obscene;

    (c) hack into any aspect of the Platform, corrupt data, cause annoyance to other users;

    (d) infringe upon the rights of any other person's proprietary rights;

    (e) send any unsolicited advertising or promotional material, commonly referred to as "spam".

36. Breaching this provision would constitute a criminal offense and will report any such breach to the relevant law enforcement authorities and disclose your identity to them.

37. You agree to indemnify, defend and hold harmless Our Sage, its directors, officers, employees, consultants, agents, and affiliates, from any and all third party claims, liability, damages or costs (including, but not limited to, legal fees) arising from your use of this website or your breach of the Terms of Use.

Disclaimer of Liability

38. Nothing in these Terms of Use is intended to exclude, restrict, or modify any consumer guarantee, right, or remedy that is conferred on you by the Australian Consumer Law or any other applicable law. These guarantees, rights, and remedies cannot be excluded, restricted, or modified by agreement.

39. Any information or contents on the Our Sage website or mobile app is not intended to be medical advice. Any information contained on this website is for general information purposes only. The website should only be viewed as current at the time of first publication. You cannot rely on the content of this website as medical advice and we exclude, to the extent permitted by law, any liability for any injury, loss or damage incurred by use of, or reliance on, the information contained on the Platform. Subject to any non-excludable consumer guarantees and other consumer protection provisions set out in the Australian Consumer Law, the material displayed on this website or mobile app is provided without any guarantees, conditions or warranties as to its accuracy.

40. Our Sage does not make any representations or warranties, express or implied, regarding the fitness for a particular purpose, or non-infringement of intellectual property rights or any other rights concerning the Platform or any medical or health-related matters. Our Sage also does not warrant that the Platform will be uninterrupted, error-free, free from viruses, or free from other factors that may interfere with the normal operation of your system. By using the Platform, you release Our Sage from all liability concerning the provision of health and medical services by Practitioners which are facilitated through the Platform. Our Sage will not be held liable for any loss, damage, expense, or claim arising from the actions or omissions of the Practitioner and you release Our Sage from any liability related to such claims. Neither Our Sage nor any Practitioner is responsible for any loss or damage arising from your failure to provide accurate or complete information or comply with your obligations under these Terms of Use. Our Sage will not be liable for any loss or damage arising from your failure to inform any other healthcare provider about the treatment received from Practitioner via the Telehealth Service.

41. To the extent permitted by law, Our Sage expressly excludes all warranties and other terms which might otherwise be implied by statute, common law or the law of equity and must not be liable for any damages whatsoever, including but without limitation to any or indirect loss of profit, loss of opportunity, incidental, consequential, or special damages, regardless of whether such loss was foreseeable or not. To the maximum extent permitted by law, Our Sage' liability will be limited to providing the Telehealth Services again (or the cost of having the Telehealth Services provided).

42. We will not be liable for any loss or damage caused by a distributed denial-of-service attack, viruses or other technologically harmful material that may infect your computer equipment, computer programs, data or other proprietary material due to your use of this website or mobile app to your downloading of any material posted on it, or on any linked sites.

Advertising

43. The site may contain advertising. The accuracy of claims made in all advertising remains the responsibility of the advertising body paying for that space.

44. We accept no responsibility for any liability that occurs as a result of wrongful promotion or false or misleading advertising on or associated with the website.

Links to external website and third party content

45. The Platform may contain links to third party websites or third-party content, and also advertisements that contain embedded links. You should be aware that when you use these links, you leave the Our Sage website. The inclusion of any link does not imply that we endorse the linked site or material at those sites, or any associated organisation, product or service. Views or recommendations provided in linked external website do not necessarily reflect our views. It is your responsibility to make your own decisions about the accuracy, currency, reliability and correctness of information contained in linked external website. We do not accept any responsibility for information provided on any external website.

Intellectual Property

46. The Platform and all content on the Platform is subject to copyright and other intellectual property rights. We retain all right, title and interest in and to the Our Sage name and trade mark, the Platform including all content on the website and mobile application except where expressly stated to the contrary. Nothing that you do on or in relation to the Platform will transfer any intellectual property rights subsisting in the Our Sage name and trade mark, the Platform including all content on the website and mobile application to you or to any third party.

47. Except as provided in these Terms of Use, any use or copying of the website or mobile application for any other purpose is expressly prohibited.

Security of the Platform

48. You should be aware that the world wide web is an insecure public network that gives rise to a potential risk that your communications and transactions are being viewed, intercepted or modified by third parties or that files which you download may contain computer viruses or other defects.

49. We do not accept any liability for any interference with or damage to your computer system, software or data occurring in connection with the Platform. You should also make your own assessment of the potential risks to the security of the information you send when deciding whether or not to communicate by the world wide web.

50. While we use reasonable commercial efforts to make the Platform available, we do not represent or warrant that the Platform will be accessible or available on a timely basis, or that access will be uninterrupted or error free.

Restrictions

51. In using the Platform, you must not: (a) provide us with inaccurate or incomplete information;

    (b) violate any applicable laws, or use the Platform for any purpose that is unlawful;

    (c) distribute viruses, spyware, corrupted files, or any other similar software or programs that may damage the operation of any computer hardware or software;

    (d) collect or store data about other users of the Platform; or.

    (e) engage in any other conduct that inhibits any other person from using or enjoying the Platform.

Privacy Policy

52. In using the Platform, you may give us personal information. By using the Platform, you grant us consent to collect, store, use and disclose such personal information in accordance with our Privacy Policy. Please click on this link www.oursage.com.au/privacy-policy to view our Privacy Policy.

Cookies

53. General information about visits to our website is collected by our computer servers, with small files “cookies” that our website transfers to your computer’s hard drive through your web browser (if you allow the delivery of “cookies”). The “cookies” are used to follow the pattern of movements of users by letting us know which pages on our website are visited, in what order and how often and the previous website visited. The purpose of sending these files with a unique ID number is so that the website can recognise your computer when you next visit the website. The “cookies” that are shared with your computer can not be used to discover any personal information such as your name, address or email address they merely identify your computer to our website when you visit us. The anonymous non-personal information that when collected and analysed in not personal information as described in the Privacy Act 1998. If you are unhappy about having a cookie sent to you, you can set your browser to refuse cookies or choose to have your computer warn you each time a cookie is being sent.

General

54. If any part of these Terms of Use is held to be unenforceable, the unenforceable part is to be given effect to the greatest extent possible and the remainder will remain in full force and effect.

55. Your use of the Platform is conducted electronically, and you agree that we may communicate with you electronically for all aspects of your use of the Platform, including sending you electronic notices if you are registered.

56. The provisions of these Terms of Use which by their nature are intended to survive termination or expiry of these Terms of Use.

57. These Terms of Use are governed by the laws of New South Wales, Australia. You agree to submit to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of New South Wales in relation to any dispute arising under, or in connection with, the Platform or these Terms of Use.

Last updated: 29 May 2023