This popped up last week!
States to blame for national real-time script-tracking saga: Hunt
Health minister sets new deadline for 'heel-dragging' states to jump on board
10th February 2020
If you are wondering what happened to the national roll-out of real-time prescription monitoring, Minister for Health Greg Hunt says blame the states.
The introduction of a national tracking system to tackle the deaths and health harms of the opioid epidemic has become one of the longest unimplemented policy initiatives in Australian healthcare — with the first federal reform pledge dating back to 2012.
Five years later, Mr Hunt declared the government would build "a nationally consistent, mandated system for real-time monitoring of controlled drugs", at a cost of $16 million.
However, it subsequently became clear it would only build a "national data exchange" to collate prescription reports from state- and territory-based real-time monitoring systems, which, outside Tasmania, were non-existent.
Victoria finally announced its own plans, coincidentally on the same day as Mr Hunt promised a national system.
ACT is the only other jurisdiction to create a real-time system, subsequent to the Federal Government's public commitment.
Since then, Queensland has promised to roll out its own QScript software in 2020. WA and SA have also pledged to launch state programs, while NSW has admitted any roll-out in its state is “years away”.
Three Australians die every day from opioid-related harms, in addition to 150 hospitalisations and 14 ED admissions, and without considering harms from misuse of benzodiazepines or other drugs, according to the TGA.
Mr Hunt has now written to state and territory governments, giving them a deadline to get involved.
“The Commonwealth expects all other states and territories to integrate their systems by the end of this year, if not the middle of this year,” a spokesperson told The Age newspaper.
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What a great story. I guess we now have to wait and see if his demands make any difference!
David.
2 comments:
What nonsensical bureaucratic drivel is this ---- "by the end of this year, if not the middle of this year".
The Coroner's have been repeatedly calling for a RTPM system since Victoria's Coroner John Olle first raised the matter in 2012.
http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/more-news/appeal-to-stop-drug-shopping/story-fn7x8me2-1226272227232
A modern twist on the “it will be over by Christmas”.
It does however shine a light on an important layer of interoperability that ADHA and others brush under. Without political, legislative of business interoperability you are going nowhere. Hunt can moan but his effort might be better spent understanding where there are agreements and divergences
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