The RACGP welcomes the recent developments in the e-prescribing arena. Electronic transmission of prescriptions (ETP) and secure individual electronic health records are at the top of the national e-health agenda and once adopted should deliver significant benefits to general practitioners and our patients.
“The RACGP supports e-prescribing, which delivers considerable benefits to GPs and other medical practitioners” said Dr Chris Mitchell RACGP President.
“Our patients will benefit from reduced medication errors, ease of obtaining repeat and refill prescriptions. GPs will save time in the prescribing process, receive immediate feedback when a script or repeat has been filled and with a patient’s permission, be able to view their consolidated medication record.”
General practitioners who adopt e-prescribing will be able to:
- Reduce medication errors through electronic downloads by pharmacists
- Reduce script forgery and doctor shopping
- Receive immediate feedback from the Electronic Transmission of Prescriptions exchange when your script has been downloaded at a pharmacy
- Receive the same immediate feedback from the ETP exchange when a repeat/refill script has been downloaded at a pharmacy
- View scripts from other prescribers in a consolidated medication record (where authorised by patients)
- manage medication better for transitions of care (specialists, allied health, community, aged care, hospitals)
- Access medication compliance data (where authorised by patients)
- Reduce red tape
- Save up to a minute per consult when prescribing is managed electronically.
Having access to up to date information during the consultation is important. With the Medisecure solution it will be possible for doctors with their patient’s approval, to review current medication and make informed decision about treatment. Additionally, the College appreciates that the Medisecure system is able to link with existing systems and that the owners are actively engaging with all providers to ensure a high quality service.
“The future of e-health is in all providers having access to key information at the time that care is provided. This initiative is a great step forward” says Dr Chris Mitchell, President of the RACGP.
Over the last two years one of the ETP exchanges, MediSecure®, has been trialled in Darwin. The eHealthNT Trial, as it was known, was partly funded by the Department of Health and Ageing. For more information on the trial visit here.
Based on the results of this trial, the RACGP is working with MediSecure® – who provide a secure ETP exchange. However, there are several models of ETP available and each practitioner needs to assess which best suits their needs and those of their patients.
MediSecure deploys proven technologies from both general practice and community pharmacy to create a secure integrated system. Prescriptions are transferred from medical practitioners to community pharmacies using military grade security that has been designed to interface smoothly with other commercial ETP exchanges.
MediSecure is open to all pharmacy and medical practice software vendors and most importantly, with no cost to GPs.
MediSecure will be available from April 2009. General practitioners, specialists and pharmacists wanting more information should visit http://www.medisecure.com.au. The website also contains a useful demonstration of the ETP exchange.
The Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP) is responsible for maintaining standards for quality clinical practice, education and training, and research in Australian general practice. The RACGP has the largest general practitioner membership of any medical organisation in Australia and represents the majority of Australia’s general practitioners.
Source
Royal Australian College of General Practitioners
