This blog is totally independent, unpaid and has only three major objectives.
The first is to inform readers of news and happenings in the e-Health domain, both here in Australia and world-wide.
The second is to provide commentary on e-Health in Australia and to foster improvement where I can.
The third is to encourage discussion of the matters raised in the blog so hopefully readers can get a balanced view of what is really happening and what successes are being achieved.
Friday, January 18, 2019
This Has To Be At Least Some Small Progress With Real Time Prescription Monitoring!
Warnings about almost 3300 patients were sent to doctors and pharmacists during the first two-month trial of Victoria’s real-time script-tracking software, the state government says.
The software, called SafeScript, was rolled out in more than 400 GP clinics and pharmacies in October to combat prescription drug misuse.
When users prescribe or dispense a monitored medicine, including all schedule 8 drugs and some schedule 4 drugs, the system alerts them if the patient has previously been prescribed a monitored drug from a different doctor.
They can then check a full list of monitored medicines prescribed to the patient.
Victoria's Minister for Health Jenny Mikakos says the number of alerts shows that SafeScript is “saving lives”.
“We said SafeScript would save lives and that’s exactly what this cutting-edge program is doing."
The initial rollout is across the Western Victoria Primary Health Network area, covering locations such as Geelong, Ballarat and Warrnambool.
SafeScript is already saving lives, says the Victorian Government, while the Victorian Guild calls for urgent action in other jurisdictions
SafeScript, Victoria’s real-time monitoring system, went live in Western Victoria at the start of October and is set to be rolled out across the State in April next year.
In its first two months, SafeScript has alerted doctors and pharmacists in Western Victoria to almost 3,300 patients at risk of harm or overdose from visiting multiple clinics or pharmacies.
In 2017, 414 Victorian lives were lost due to prescription medicine overdoses.
The state Government highlights that SafeScript addresses doctor shopping by ensuring health professionals have real time information about their patients’ prescription history of monitored medicines.
More than 400 sites across the Western Victoria Primary Health Network catchment are part of SafeScript’s inaugural rollout, at locations including Ararat, Ballarat, Geelong, Maryborough, Stawell, Warrnambool and many more.
SafeScript is monitoring all Schedule 8 medicines such as morphine and oxycodone, and other medicines such as codeine and diazepam.
“We said SafeScript would save lives and that’s exactly what this cutting-edge program is doing,” says Minister for Health Jenny Mikakos. Prescription drug dependency can happen to anyone and the consequences can be tragic.
“Now, health professionals can access real-time information about a patient’s prescription history – and discuss with them the risks of using dangerous amounts of prescription medication.”
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