Best Practice vs Medical Director vs Halaxy: Why Australian GPs Are Choosing a New Foundation for Their Practice

The most important software decision your GP practice will make isn't which legacy system you stay with. It's whether you're ready to leave the legacy behind entirely. 

If you're a General Practitioner (GP) or practice manager in Australia, you likely already know the two names that dominate every practice management software conversation: Best Practice and Medical Director. Together, they've shaped how Australian general practice has operated for the better part of two decades. They handle Medicare billing, clinical records, prescribing, and pathology, and they do it with the deep local compliance knowledge that only comes from decades in the market. 

But 2026 is not 2006. And the question Australian GPs are increasingly asking isn't "Best Practice or Medical Director?", it's something far more fundamental: "Is on-premise, legacy software still the right foundation for what general practice needs to meet the needs of practitioners and patients?" 

This article takes an honest look at the comparison, Best Practice vs Medical Director, and introduces a third path that a growing number of Australian GPs are moving towards: Halaxy. Not a new entrant. Not a startup. A platform that has been operating in Australian healthcare since 2013, now used by over 40,000 practitioners including GPs, and built on a structural foundation that is fundamentally different to anything legacy software can offer. Not incrementally better, architecturally different and built to achieve something much more: to remove administration so you just treat the patient. And for Australian GPs navigating workforce pressures, administrative overload, and a rapidly digitising health system, that difference now matters more than ever. 

The Legacy Duopoly: What Best Practice and Medical Director Do Well 

To be clear: both Best Practice and Medical Director have earned their place in Australian general practice. They didn't dominate the market by accident. 

Best Practice currently holds the largest share of the Australian GP software market, estimated at around 60% of GP practices nationally. It is Australian-owned, GP-led, and built with deep MBS billing logic refined over more than 20 years. Its appointment book is flexible, its clinical letter templates are comprehensive, and its user community is large enough that most admin staff walking through your door will already know it. 

Medical Director, now owned by Telstra Health, has historically been strong in chronic disease management workflows, prescription management, and PBS prescribing integration. It is installed in thousands of GP practices nationally and offers depth for managing complex, multi-condition patients. Its cloud-based Helix platform represents the company's attempt to modernise a historically on-premise system. 

For a practice that has operated on one of these platforms for ten or fifteen years, there is real value in the accumulated data, the trained admin staff, and the familiar workflows. That is not to be dismissed. 

But there are structural limitations to both systems that are becoming more visible, and more costly, every year.

Where Legacy GP Software Falls Short in 2026 

1. They were built for a different era 

Best Practice and Medical Director were designed when general practice looked very different. Lower patient volumes. Simpler regulatory environments. No telehealth. No in-built AI. No patient expectations of digital self-service. The compliance logic is deep, but the underlying architecture reflects the world as it was, not as it is. 

As we detailed in our guide to the Top 10 GP Practice Management Software Features Every Australian Practice Needs in 2026, GP service attendance has grown from 3.8 to 6.2 visits per person annually since Medicare's inception. Administrative workload is now among the top concerns cited by GPs in the RACGP's Health of the Nation report. The system is under more pressure than it has ever been, and legacy software was not designed to absorb that pressure. 

2. On-premise infrastructure is a hidden tax on your practice 

Both Best Practice and Medical Director rely on on-premise servers, regular hardware replacement cycles, IT support contracts, and quarterly or even yearly manual software updates that disrupt workflow. These are not small costs. Practices running on-premise infrastructure typically pay for dedicated servers, backup systems, IT support staff or expensive service contracts, and per-practitioner licensing fees that scale linearly as the practice grows. Every hour your admin team spends managing IT issues is an hour not spent on patient care. 

3. AI is an add-on, not built-in 

Neither Best Practice nor Medical Director has AI built natively into the core platform. AI scribes, AI clinical support, other AI apps – in both systems, these are third-party products layered on top. They require separate logins, manual data transfers, and workarounds that introduce complexity rather than removing it. As we explored in our recent article on how Halaxy AI clinical features are transforming workflows for Australian GPs, the difference between AI layered on top and AI built directly into the system of record is not cosmetic. It is the difference between automation that actually works and supports clinical decision making and automation that creates new problems to manage. 

Halaxy: 13 Years in Australian Healthcare. 40,000 Practitioners. One Unified Platform. 

Before we go further into the comparison, it's worth addressing something directly: Halaxy is not a newcomer to the Australian healthcare market. It is not a venture-backed startup promising disruption. It is a platform that is headquartered and operating in the Australian healthcare system since 2013 - thirteen years - quietly building the depth, compliance knowledge, and clinical capability that GPs need, while doing so on an architectural foundation that legacy systems were never designed to offer. 

More than 40,000 health practitioners are already using Halaxy today, across general practice, specialist medicine, and allied health. That's not a pilot. That's not a beta. That's a proven, production-grade platform operating at scale across the Australian health system, handling real patients, real Medicare claims, real prescriptions, and real clinical records every day. 

The reason Halaxy is not yet the dominant name in GP practice management software has nothing to do with capability and everything to do with market inertia. Australian GP practices have been deeply embedded in Best Practice and Medical Director for years. Switching costs are real. Staff familiarity matters. And legacy systems, for all their structural limitations, do what they do somewhat reliably. 

But the conversation is changing. As AI online infrastructure becomes the obvious default, as administrative burden becomes the defining threat to GP viability, and becomes a genuine clinical tool, as, the practices that are evaluating their options are increasingly finding that Halaxy isn't just an alternative to Best Practice or Medical Director. It is a different category of software entirely, and the gap between what it can do and what legacy systems can do is widening with every weekly product release. 

This is not a platform that is trying to look like BP or MD with a modern interface. This is a platform built on a different idea, that the patient record and the practice should share a single, unified source of truth, and that every clinical and administrative workflow should flow from that foundation. That idea was right in 2013. It is even more right in 2026.

Head-to-Head: Best Practice vs Medical Director vs Halaxy 

Here is a direct comparison across the features that matter most to Australian GP practices in 2026: 

Best Practice and Medical Director remain credible choices for practices deeply embedded in their workflows. But the comparison above makes clear that the structural advantages of a cloud-native, AI-embedded, source-of-truth architecture are not incremental, they compound across every dimension of practice operations.

What Makes Halaxy Fundamentally Different: The Source of Truth 

Halaxy is not a modern-looking version of Best Practice or Medical Director. It is a different kind of software entirely built from the ground up on a principle that changes everything: the patient and the practice should share a single, unified source of truth. Everything else flows from that. Halaxy removes administration and automates the workflows, so practitioners just treat the patient.  

Why the source of truth is the most powerful foundation in healthcare 

In a legacy system, patient data is fragmented. Clinical notes live in one place, billing in another, pathology results in another, AI tools, if used at all, operate on a snapshot of that data, not the full longitudinal record. Every time information moves between systems, there is a risk of error, delay, or loss. 

Halaxy works differently. The Halaxy platform holds the complete patient record for practitioners. The appointments, clinical notes, billing, pathology results, referrals, prescriptions, care plans, and communications, all in the one, continuously updated system. When AI operates from this complete source of truth, it doesn't just automate tasks. It generates insights, surfaces patterns, and supports clinical decisions in ways that a standalone tool operating on fragmented data simply cannot. 

This is the power of the system of record and core automation, and it is the foundation that allows every other Halaxy capability to be more capable, more accurate, and more genuinely useful than its equivalent in a legacy system. It is not a feature. It is the architecture. And it cannot be replicated by adding other third party systems on top of a system that was never designed to support it. 

Consider what this means in practice. When a patient walks into a consultation with a GP using Halaxy, the AI has already reviewed the patient's complete history – previous diagnoses, current medications, outstanding referrals, recent pathology results, care plan status, and billing history. It is ready to assist from the very first encounter, not because someone told it to prepare, but because the data is already there, structured, and current. 

When a practice manager looks at the billing dashboard, they are not reconciling data from three different systems. When a patient books online, that booking flows directly into the scheduling engine with full visibility of practitioner availability, appointment type requirements, and billing eligibility. No workarounds. No reconciliation. No manual follow-up. 

AI That Knows Your Patient, Before You Walk Into the Room 

Halaxy's AI medical scribe does not just transcribe a consultation. It generates structured SOAP notes, referral letters, care plans, and follow-up documentation, drawing on the complete patient history that already exists in the record. It knows the patient's previous diagnoses, medications, assessments, and consultation history. That is not a feature. That is a fundamentally different quality of intelligence. 

Halaxy's AI Patient Clinical Summary brings together structured clinical data including notes, prescriptions, referrals and allergies, giving you a clear, actionable snapshot of the patient in seconds. No more scrolling through records or piecing together history. One click gives you full clinical context the moment the patient walks in. 

Because AI features build on structured data already in Halaxy, including diagnoses, prescriptions and consultation notes, Halaxy AI delivers a level of accuracy that generic AI tools layered on external systems simply cannot match. You can generate summaries across any timeframe, from recent visits to multi-year histories, and Halaxy tailors them to your specialty and workflow across general practice, medical specialists, physicians, surgeons, allied health and more. Patient summaries are fully editable and ready to use for referrals, handovers and ongoing care documentation. 

Halaxy turns your patient and practice information into actionable insights instantly, giving practitioners more clinical support and truly freeing up time to focus on patient care. 

All You Need to Do Is Treat the Patient 

This is the Halaxy promise, and it is worth stating plainly: your job as a GP is to care for your patients. Everything else, the documentation, the billing, the follow-ups, the recalls, the reminders, the referral letters, the pathology results, the compliance, should happen without requiring your attention. 

This is how Halaxy works in practice. When you or your patient makes an appointment in Halaxy, the system immediately creates everything your practice needs around that visit. The calendar updates, the patient intake form goes out automatically ahead of the appointment, and the patient record is ready. The billing item comes pre-configured, and the consultation template is waiting with AI Scribe ready to go. Reminders go out automatically. If it is a follow-up, previous notes and results are already there on the patient record. 

Nothing needs to be set up manually, chased down or reconciled after the fact. This is a fundamentally different workflow to legacy software, which is why practices that move to Halaxy consistently describe it as the biggest reduction in administrative load they have ever experienced. 

Halaxy works the moment the appointment is made. By the time your patient walks in, all you need to do is the consultation and treat the patient. After the consult, Halaxy automatically takes over the administration of the invoice, payment and claim, along with any follow up actions such as prescriptions, recalls, referrals and lab requests, all kept centralised in the patient record. 

Halaxy automatically handles: 
• Consultation notes through AI scribe, auto-structured SOAP format 
• Medicare billing, rebates, gap payments, without you needing to do anything.  
• Appointment booking, reminders, and cancellations, through connected workflows.  
• Referral letters and care plans, automatically prepopulated.  
• Pathology and imaging results.  
• Patient communications and follow-up.  
• Clinical tool completion. 
• Telehealth delivery, built into the Halaxy platform.
• MBS fee schedule updates, applied automatically through preset fees in the Halaxy platform.  

You focus on the patient in front of you. Halaxy handles the rest. 

This is not a feature list. It is a structural shift in how general practice operates, and it is only possible because everything runs through a single source of truth, with automatic workflows embedded and AI built in the foundation rather than bolted on at the edges. 

The Cloud and AI Advantage: Modern Practice Infrastructure 

Halaxy is a fully online platform. There are no servers to maintain, no IT contracts to manage, no major software updates to schedule around. The platform updates continuously – daily and weekly – so when Medicare introduces new billing rules (as it did in November 2025 with the expanded Bulk Billing Practice Incentive Program), Halaxy has already updated your preset fees. You don't find out months later when you realise you've been claiming incorrectly. 

Halaxy's core software is free, an approach that was unimaginable under the per-practitioner licensing models of legacy systems. Practices can access full clinical and billing capability without the heavy upfront cost that has historically made switching prohibitive. And as a certified B Corp built and hosted in Australia, Halaxy carries no compromise on data sovereignty or Privacy Act compliance, and you know Halaxy is focused on a higher purpose: making healthcare better for everybody everywhere. 

The Patient Relationship: Yours, Not the Platform's 

Halaxy's patient engagement tools are built into the platform natively, not outsourced to a third-party booking system that charges transaction fees to lock you in, and captures your patient data. Patients can book online 24/7, complete intake forms before arriving, access their own records and care plans, receive automated reminders and recalls, and make secure payments. All of this flows through the same source of truth.  

When your practice owns the patient relationship, when patients interact directly with you through your platform, not through a third-party intermediary, you own the continuity of care. You own the data. You own the relationship. And when those patients return, they return to you, and you’re in control of your own practice. 

Why This Matters Right Now for Australian GPs 

Australian general practice is under more pressure than at any point in its history. GP service volumes are at record highs. Administrative burden is the leading cause of burnout cited by GPs in national surveys. The workforce is stretched. And the regulatory environment, MyMedicare, expanded bulk billing incentives, new telehealth rules, evolving MBS items, is changing faster than ever. 

In this environment, the software your practice runs on is not a background decision. It is a frontline decision. It either absorbs pressure or adds to it. It either removes administration or creates more of it. It either gives you more time with patients or takes it away. 

They are the ones with the clearest source of truth – structured for intelligence, built for efficiency, and genuinely designed to put practitioners back where they belong: with their patients. 

Halaxy has been building this foundation since 2013. Over 40,000 Australian practitioners are already on it.

Frequently Asked Questions: Comparing GP Practice Management Software in Australia 

Is Best Practice better than Medical Director? 

Best Practice holds a larger market share among Australian GPs, around 60% nationally, and is widely regarded as having a more flexible appointment book and a larger user community. Medical Director is often preferred for chronic disease management workflows and clinical decision support. Neither is definitively superior; the right choice depends on practice size, workflow preferences, and budget. The more important question in 2026 is whether either platform is the right foundation for where general practice is heading given the importance of online and AI software. 

Can Halaxy replace Best Practice or Medical Director? 

Yes. Halaxy provides full clinical and operational capability of legacy GP systems, including SOAP notes, prescribing, pathology integration, Medicare billing, telehealth, and secure messaging, plus built-in AI automation, a free core pricing plan, and an online architecture requiring no on-premise infrastructure. Halaxy has been operating in Australian healthcare since 2013 and is used by over 40,000 practitioners. For practices evaluating a switch, Halaxy provides a migration pathway with dedicated onboarding support. 

How long has Halaxy been in the market? 

Halaxy was launched in 2013 and has been operating in Australian healthcare for 13 years. It is not a new entrant – it is an established, proven platform used by more than 40,000 health practitioners across general practice, specialist medicine, and allied health, in Australia and globally.  

How does Halaxy handle Medicare and MBS billing? 

Halaxy's automated billing and invoicing handles Medicare rebates, gap billing, bulk billing, and multiple claim types within the platform. Preset MBS fee schedule updates – including the November 2025 bulk billing incentive expansion – are applied automatically, so practices are always claiming correctly without manual intervention. 

Is Halaxy compliant with Australian privacy laws? 

Yes, Halaxy is built and hosted in Australia, with compliance with the Privacy Act and Australian Privacy Principles embedded from the ground up. As a certified B Corp, Halaxy is committed to the responsible management of health data. Patient data does not enter third-party environments with separate storage infrastructure or compliance policies. 

What does Halaxy cost compared to Best Practice or Medical Director? 

Halaxy’s core software is free for practitioners, fundamentally different to the per-practitioner subscription models of Best Practice and Medical Director. Practices can access full clinical and billing capability without the heavy licensing costs that have historically made switching from legacy systems cost-prohibitive. 

Is Halaxy suitable for a busy bulk-billing GP practice? 

Yes. Halaxy's automated Medicare billing, integrated eScripts, pathology result management, and AI documentation tools are designed for high-volume GP environments. The platform handles bulk billing, gap billing, and the full range of MBS claim types, with fee schedule updates applied automatically. More than 40,000 health practitioners use Halaxy across a wide range of practice models. 

The Next Step 

If your practice is running on Best Practice or Medical Director and you are satisfied with your workflows, that is a legitimate position. These are proven systems with deep Australian compliance knowledge and – for practices not yet ready to move – they will continue to serve their role. 

But if you are asking what the next decade of Australian general practice looks like, if you want a platform where AI works from a complete source of truth, where billing and administration happen without your involvement, where every patient interaction is captured, connected, and continuous, and where you can genuinely focus on the reason you became a GP, then it is time to take a closer look at Halaxy. 

Not because it is new. Because it has spent thirteen years building the right foundation, and that foundation is now more relevant than it has ever been.  

 Visit halaxy.com/practice-management/general-practitioners to learn more or sign up for your free account today. 

 Explore Halaxy's AI clinical features for GPs or read our guide to the Top 10 GP Practice Management Software Features Every Australian Practice Needs in 2026. 

Migrating your practice: The Halaxy customer support team can help you easily migrate from Best Practice or Medical Director with no downtime and no disruption to your practice. Halaxy is an Australian company headquartered in Melbourne, and customer support teams are available by phone (1800 984 334) or email 24 hours a day, Monday to Friday (AEST) to help with any migration or other questions.