eHealth

Electronic Prescribing and Dispensing of Medicines

Electronic prescribing and dispensing of medicines is a key eHealth initiative aimed at improving the delivery and quality of health care and achieving better health outcomes

What is it?

Electronic prescribing and dispensing enables all stages of the prescribing, supply of medicine and claiming process to be completed electronically. It will provide an alternative to the current paper based prescription system. Prescriptions will be created and signed electronically by prescribers.

The new, streamlined process will allow for a prescription to be entered electronically by a medical practitioner, authenticated via an electronic signature, and transmitted securely for dispensing by a pharmacy. The pharmacy can then make claims electronically to Medicare Australia.

What are the benefits?

Electronic prescribing and dispensing has the potential to deliver a range of real benefits including:

• Improved confidentiality and security of medication information;
• Better clarity and communication of prescription information;
• Rapid information exchange;
• Increased time with patients for health professionals due to less paperwork;
• Reduction in medication and dispensing errors;
• Decline in adverse drug events; and
• Reduction in fraud risks present in the paper-based process.

Progress

The Department of Health and Ageing is working closely with the National E-Health Transition Authority (NEHTA) to establish a coordinated and consistent approach in the development of national ePrescribing.

Commonwealth legislative barriers to electronic prescribing and dispensing of PBS medicines have been removed by implementing changes to the National Health (Pharmaceutical Benefits) Amendment Regulations 2006. The regulatory amendments became effective on 1 March 2007. In addition to Commonwealth legislative amendments, state and territory legislative barriers have been identified and are currently being removed to align with the Commonwealth amendments and to provide the rules for electronic prescribing and dispensing in each jurisdiction.

Work is currently underway on the development of key standards, finalising jurisdictional legislative amendments, and the establishment of a national health information regulatory framework.

These steps will enable full-scale national electronic prescribing and dispensing implementation. The initial focus will be on small-scale implementation in controlled settings. A small trial is currently being conducted in an aged care setting in Darwin. The small scale trials will provide a platform for electronic prescribing and dispensing activity while informing the development of any subsequent national implementation. Proposals from interested parties will be assessed against principles and guidelines currently being prepared by the Department of Health and Ageing and Medicare Australia.

Resources

Frequently Asked Questions on electronic prescribing and dispensing of medicines.
National Health (Pharmaceutical Benefits) Amendment Regulations 2006 (ComLaw website)
National Health (Pharmaceutical Benefits) Amendment regulations (PDF 98 KB)
National Health (Pharmaceutical Benefits) Amendment Regulations 2006 – Explanatory Statement (ComLaw website)
National Health (Pharmaceutical Benefits) Amendment Regulations 2006 - Explanatory Statement (PDF 80 KB)

If you have any difficulty accessing the PDFs, please contact PACDWEB@health.gov.au

Who can I contact?

General Public	PBS Information Line	1800 020 613
Providers	Provider Hotline	132 150
Pharmacists	Pharmacist Hotline	132 290
Software Vendors	ePrescribing Mail Box	eprescribing@health.gov.au