Top 10 GP Practice Management Software Features Every Australian Practice Needs in 2026

Why GPs need a new checklist

As Australian general practices (GPs) head into 2026, the features required from GP practice management software have fundamentally changed. The evidence is clear: GP service attendance rates have increased from 3.8 to 6.2 visits per person annually since Medicare's inception in 1984 (AIHW, 2025), while RACGP's Health of the Nation report has found GPs are increasingly reporting the administrative workload and associated stress among their greatest concerns (RACGP, 2024).

For years, general practitioners have chosen on-premise legacy systems based on requirements defined decades ago, or workflows shaped by older software. Decisions driven by familiarity, peer usage, or past experience risk anchoring practices to outdated technology, limiting efficiency, clinical flexibility, and patient experience.

Technology has moved on, yet many practices continue with these outdated systems. While "modern platforms" are often mentioned, very few deliver the full range of capabilities GPs need, from comprehensive clinical tools, SOAP notes and structured patient records and clinical letters, to prescribing, ordering labs and secure communication with other practitioners, all with payments, rebates, online bookings, AI Scribes and connected workflows built in. Halaxy is unique in bringing all of these elements together in a single platform built for real-world GP practice.

Patient expectations have also evolved significantly. While access has improved, with 67.2% of people able to always see their preferred GP when needed in 2024-25, up from 66.4% in 2023-24 (ABS, 2024), the experience of care itself often falls short. Long wait times, fragmented communication, and rushed consultations feel increasingly out of step with how people interact with services in other areas of their lives.

Today's platforms must do more than support clinical work. They must actively remove the administrative burden that prevents practitioners from delivering the deeper connection and better patient care their patients now expect.

The Top 10 key features required for GP practices

To meet these evolving demands, both clinical and operational, modern GP practice management systems must deliver a comprehensive set of capabilities. The following ten features represent the essential foundations for effective general practice in 2026.

1. Complete clinical capability

A practice management system should provide full clinical functionality in a single platform, including SOAP notes, structured patient records, procedure templates, care plans, referrals, letters, built-in AI Scribes and long-term patient histories. Structured clinical tools ensure that data is consistent, searchable, and fully usable across consultations, enabling safer, more efficient care and supporting complex decision-making for chronic and multi-disciplinary patients.

The importance of comprehensive clinical records cannot be overstated. In 2022-23, 60% of people who visited a GP in the last 12 months had a long-term health condition (AIHW, 2024), and one in two Australians has at least one chronic condition, with $82 billion spent on treating chronic diseases in 2022-23 (AIHW, 2024)

Managing this volume of complex, multi-condition patients safely and effectively is impossible without structured, longitudinal clinical records that give practitioners a complete picture at the point of care. Practices need systems that support detailed chronic disease management, care plan coordination, and continuity across every consultation, not just a snapshot of the most recent visit.

2. Integrated prescribing, labs, and pathology

Practitioners need the ability to order prescriptions, pathology and imaging directly within the consultation workflow, with results automatically recorded in the patient record. Seamless integration eliminates manual follow-up, removes errors, and ensures continuity of care, while also saving time and supporting compliance with clinical best practice.

The shift toward eScripts is accelerating rapidly. With over 219 million eScripts issued nationwide since May 2020 (Department of Health and Aged Care, 2024), digital prescribing is already transforming patient care. Practices that haven't integrated eScripts into their daily workflows will find themselves behind the curve as this becomes standard practice.

Modern systems incorporate eScripts, ensuring patients have choice while practices maintain efficiency and safety through reduced transcription errors and improved medication reconciliation.

3. Secure messaging and healthcare integrations

Effective GP systems should provide secure messaging with other practitioners. Efficient, auditable communication improves care coordination, removes unnecessary phone calls and administration, and keeps all clinical information connected.

The digital health ecosystem in Australia is maturing rapidly. The RACGP's Health of the Nation 2024 report found that while most GPs regularly use digital technologies, the most popular being the Australian Immunisation Register, real-time prescription monitoring and electronic prescribing, only 13% said they felt well informed about the state of innovation within general practice (RACGP, 2024). This knowledge gap highlights the need for practice management systems that not only integrate with these national systems but also make them intuitive and accessible for busy practitioners.

4. Automated payments, rebates, and billing

Financial workflows should be streamlined, accurate and integrated. This includes patient payments, Medicare rebates, gap billing, and multiple claim types, all managed within the one system. Separating the financial relationship from the clinical relationship for practitioners saves time and allows GPs to maintain focus on patient care.

The complexity of Medicare billing continues to increase, particularly with recent policy changes. From November 1, 2025, the eligibility for bulk billing incentives expanded to include all Australians with a Medicare card, with the introduction of the Bulk Billing Practice Incentive Program offering practices an additional quarterly 12.5% incentive payment. Systems that can automatically apply these incentives, calculate correct rebates, and manage the split between GP and practice are essential for financial sustainability.

Moreover, removing billing complexity from practitioners’ plates directly addresses practitioner burnout and gives them more time to spend on patient care.

5. Time-saving automation and AI Scribes

Routine administrative tasks such as reminders, recalls, follow-ups, intake forms, billing workflows, and AI-assisted transcription of clinical notes should be fully automated and built into a single system. Eliminating the need to copy or transfer patient data frees up practitioners' time to focus on patients, improves data accuracy, and keeps all patient information safe, secure, and centralised in the one place.

The evidence for AI adoption in general practice is compelling. Almost half of Australian GPs said they feel enthusiastic when adopting new digital technologies within general practice, with the majority having a positive view of innovation on improving patient care, patient health outcomes and productivity (RACGP, 2024). More specifically, in 2024, one in five general practitioners in the UK reported using generative AI in their clinical practice, suggesting Australian practices are at the beginning of a significant technological shift.

AI-powered clinical documentation tools show particular promise. Research has demonstrated that AI scribes can reduce documentation time, improve record quality, and decrease practitioner stress, all while maintaining or improving clinical accuracy. For practices struggling with the documentation burden that keeps GPs from meaningful patient interaction, these tools represent a genuine breakthrough. These findings are already being realised by Halaxy practitioners through Halaxy’s AI Scribe and ongoing AI product releases, demonstrating that the promise of AI automation is moving from research into everyday clinical practice.

6. Fully integrated telehealth

Telehealth is no longer optional. Patients expect it, Medicare supports it, and the data confirms it is here to stay. In 2022-2023, telehealth accounted for 20% of all GP services delivered through MBS (Department of Health and Aged Care, 2024), and many of the items introduced during the pandemic are now permanently funded. For practices, the question is no longer whether to offer telehealth but how well their system supports it.

The regulatory landscape is also shifting. From November 1, 2025, patients can access telehealth services even if they have not seen their GP face-to-face in the previous 12 months if they are accessing the service through their MyMedicare registered practice (RACGP, 2025), rewarding practices that invest in continuity of care. This change recognises that higher quality care is achieved through telehealth when provided in the context of a continuous clinical relationship.

7. System flexibility

A practice management system must be adaptable to any workflow, whether for a sole practitioner or a multi-disciplinary team across multiple locations. It should allow customisable consultations, scheduling, patient management, and team roles, so the software works around the way your practice operates. Flexibility ensures consistent, efficient, and connected care for all patients.

The diversity of Australian general practice is significant. According to the RACGP Health of the Nation 2025 report, nearly two-thirds (65%) of GPs want to participate in more multi-disciplinary team (MDT) care, with 47% stating they would be interested in additional training (RACGP, 2025). This desire for collaborative care models requires systems that can support multiple practitioners, different care team structures, and varied billing arrangements, all while maintaining a unified patient record.

Practice structures range from sole GPs to large multi-site corporate practices, from bulk-billing clinics to mixed-billing models, from practices focused on chronic disease management to those emphasising acute care. A rigid system that enforces a single workflow model will constrain practice development and limit the ability to respond to changing patient needs or business models.

8. Remove IT overhead and subscription costs

Gone are the days of hosting large IT infrastructure in-practice or paying expensive per-practitioner licences to maintain legacy software. Modern online platforms are accessible on the go, handle updates, security, and backups automatically, centralise workflows, and remove unnecessary IT overhead, allowing practices to focus on patient care rather than technology management. Costs should not be a heavy burden for practices; some platforms, like Halaxy, even offer free access to the core platform, making high-quality practice management more accessible.

Legacy on-premise systems typically require:

• Dedicated servers and backup systems
• Regular hardware replacement cycles
• IT support staff or expensive service contracts
• Manual software updates that disrupt workflow
• Data security measures that practices must manage themselves
• Per-practitioner licensing fees that scale linearly with practice growth

Modern online systems eliminate these costs while often providing superior functionality, security, and reliability. The shift to subscription or even freemium models democratises access to sophisticated practice management tools that were previously only affordable for large practices.

9. Continuous updates and product stability

Your system should be stable, reliable, and continuously improved, with new features and enhancements delivered regularly – weekly and even daily should be the norm. Practices should no longer wait six to twelve months for costly updates or bug fixes, ensuring they always have access to the latest clinical and operational capabilities.

The pace of change in Australian healthcare policy and regulation demands responsive software development. Consider the recent regulatory changes: significant MBS changes took effect on November 1, 2025, including changes to Better Access mental health items, expanded bulk billing incentives, and new telehealth requirements.

Practices using legacy systems often wait months for software vendors to implement these changes, risking non-compliance or lost revenue in the interim – or practices must manually update the rebates and fees themselves in their software. Unlike Halaxy, where preset fee updates are all taken care of and automated across your practice.

Modern software development practices, including continuous deployment, enable much faster response times. Rather than annual major releases that disrupt workflows and require extensive training, incremental updates can be rolled out seamlessly, often with minimal or no user impact. Critical bug fixes can be deployed within hours and minutes, rather than requiring practices to work around software issues for extended periods.

This approach also enables practices to benefit from rapid innovation in healthcare technology. As AI capabilities mature, as new integration standards emerge, and as patient expectations evolve, modern platforms can adapt quickly rather than becoming progressively more outdated.

10. Built-in patient engagement tools, not outsourced third-party platforms

Many practices unknowingly hand control of their patient relationships to third-party platforms. These platforms can charge transaction fees, capture patient data, and create a layer between your practice and your patients that is difficult and costly to unwind. The better approach is a practice management system with patient engagement built in from the ground up, so your practice owns the relationship, the data, and the experience.

Essential to any practice management solution is the ability to put the patient at the centre of care, allowing online booking, secure communication, and access to results and care plans. When patients can manage their own appointments and access information directly, practices remove inbound calls and administrative workload. Controlling your own online presence and booking system avoids external platforms that take a percentage of payments or hold patient data. And it goes well beyond just online bookings, it is about patients owning their own healthcare.

The operational benefits are substantial. When patients can:

• Book their own appointments online 24/7
• Complete intake forms and health questionnaires before arriving
• Track their own healthcare between appointments
• Receive automated appointment reminders
• Access pathology results and care plans securely
• Communicate with the practice through secure messaging
• Make secure online payments before or after their appointment

…practices experience dramatic reductions in phone volume, missed appointments, and administrative workload. Front desk staff can focus on in-person care rather than being tied to the phone, and practitioners can review patient information before consultations begin.

Practices should look for systems where these tools are native, not add-ons. Integrated patient engagement tools that are part of the practice management system ensure practices own their patient relationships and directory information.

Where modern GP practice management delivers

A truly effective GP system isn't just a "modern alternative" to legacy software. The most capable platforms combine complete clinical capability, integrated prescribing and pathology, secure messaging, automated payments and rebates, AI-powered workflow automation, fully integrated telehealth, flexibility for any practice structure, reduced IT overhead, continuous updates, and patient-driven engagement tools, all in the one, connected system.

When these features work together, practices can focus on patients rather than administration, streamline workflows, and deliver a more seamless, engaging experience for both practitioners and patients. This is what defines next-generation GP practice management in 2026.

The evidence of what's possible is compelling. With over 45,000 practitioners using Halaxy, it proves that modern technology can match and surpass legacy systems clinically, while improving the experience for both practitioners and patients.

The path forward requires courage to question assumptions about what practice management software should be. The systems that served practices well a decade ago were built for a different healthcare environment, one with lower patient volumes, simpler regulatory requirements, less digital infrastructure, and different patient expectations. Those conditions no longer apply.

The question for practice owners and medical directors isn't whether to adopt modern practice management systems, but when, and what the cost of delay will be. Every month spent with inefficient workflows, manual processes, and disconnected systems represents lost clinical time, increased practitioner stress, reduced patient satisfaction, and missed opportunities for practice development.

All you need to do is make a booking. Halaxy handles the rest.

If you're interested in learning more about Halaxy for GP practices, check out our platform: https://www.halaxy.com/practice-management/general-practitioners


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