Electronic Prescribing Electronic prescribing is the process by which a prescription is electronically generated by a prescriber and securely transmitted to a prescription delivery service for dispensing and supply. Changes have been made to Commonwealth legislation to recognise an electronic prescription as a legal form to allow medicine supply. Under the National Health Plan for COVID-19, the Australian Government has accelerated the delivery of electronic prescribing to be progressively available from the end of May 2020.
Patients will be given the choice to receive either an electronic or a paper prescription from their prescriber. Electronic prescribing will not fundamentally change existing prescribing and dispensing processes. It provides patients with more options and patients will still have the ability to choose which pharmacy they attend to fill their prescription. Both electronic and paper prescriptions will need to comply with the relevant Commonwealth and State and Territory legislation requirements.
Two models for Electronic Prescriptions There will be two models available to support Electronic Prescribing; the Token Model and the Active Script List Model. Only the Token Model will be available from end of May 2020, with the Active Script List Model expected to be available from the end of 2020. Your clinical software may determine which PES you register with. The two PES vendors have entered into arrangements with existing clinical software providers such as Medical Director, Best Practice, Zedmed and Genie to integrate the software required for ETP within existing clinical software. Token Model: This will see a unique QR barcode known as a ‘token’ sent via an app, SMS or email. A token is not a legal prescription, but it can be used by an authorised pharmacy to unlock the legal prescription. Ensure your practice is connected to a Prescription Delivery Service through a Prescription Exchange Service (eRx or MediSecure) so you can access and dispense your patient’s Electronic Prescriptions. Active Script List Model: Under this model pharmacists will be able to access a patient’s electronic prescription by retrieving it from an Active Script List (ASL). The patient must prove their identity to the pharmacist. The ASL is expected to overcome the issue of lost tokens and assist medication management and adherence, especially for patients who are using multiple medicines.