I Think I Have Said That We Need 50% Usage Of E-Prescriptions To Declare Them Success. Are We There Yet?

I first looked at this in March. See here:

https://aushealthit.blogspot.com/2021/03/the-news-on-eprescribing-continues-to.html

And my comment on what would look like success – in the blog title – is here – again in March:

https://www.ausdoc.com.au/practice/have-you-written-escript-yet-12000-gps-have

This interesting collection of partially useful updated statistics appeared last week.

Huge rise in ‘very helpful’ electronic prescribing

The number of electronic prescriptions being used in Australia is increasing by 500,000 every week.

Jolyon Attwooll

14 Jul 2021

The continued growth of electronic prescriptions is being supported by a Federal Government subsidy that is funding general practices to prescribe via SMS, and it was recently announced that the scheme will continue until at least the end of September.
 
Dr David Adam, a member of RACGP Expert Committee – Practice Technology and Management (REC–PTM), welcomed the extension to a system he says has been working very well.
 
But Dr Adam would also like to see more clarity regarding any proposed funding support for electronic prescriptions beyond that date, with the current subsidy meaning the SMS prescriptions are free for GPs to issue.
 
‘Overall, I think everyone involved can be really pleased, the system seems to be working really well,’ Dr Adam told newsGP.
 
‘We need some certainty about what’s happening in the long term. The cost [unsubsidised SMS prescriptions] is not huge but it’s not insignificant – it will definitely make a difference to practices.’
 
As of 6 July, 11,298,828 million original and repeat electronic prescriptions have been issued since the system was launched, according to data collated by the Australian Digital Health Agency (ADHA), which oversees the scheme.
 
These include ‘tokens’ – a link to a unique QR code representing a prescription – issued by SMS, email or via an app.
 
In a REC–PTM survey of GPs’ experiences with electronic prescribing, more than a quarter (27%) said they would not continue to use SMS for sending tokens if the subsidy were to be removed. A further 50% say they are unsure whether they would continue.
 
Among the respondents, 85% had prescribed medicines electronically, with the true number of GPs issuing electronic prescriptions standing at a little over 50%, the ADHA believes.
 
While the total number of electronic prescriptions is still a relatively small proportion of the total – which is around 300 million through the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) each year – it is increasing exponentially, with the ADHA expecting the numbers to carry on rising.
 
A newer tool for managing electronic prescriptions, Active Script List (ASL), is being trialled before it is made available more broadly.
 
Patients can opt in to ASL, which lists all active prescriptions and repeats to be dispensed and adds prescriptions once they are generated. It is being introduced to pharmacies with compatible software, with a further upgrade due to take place later this year.
 
More here:

https://www1.racgp.org.au/newsgp/professional/huge-rise-in-very-helpful-electronic-prescribing

Also there is an ADHA press release on the topic.

15 Jul 2021 7:26 am AEST

Electronic prescriptions making telehealth easier for Australians

Australian Digital Health Agency

Sydneysiders facing COVID-19 social distancing requirements are reminded they can ask their GP for an electronic prescription when getting their prescription medicines.

NSW residents, like the majority of Australians, can now choose an electronic prescription as an alternative to a paper prescription. To meet the Government’s commitment to deliver electronic prescriptions in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the nation’s healthcare sector has worked together to achieve this digital innovation.

Amanda Cattermole, CEO of the Australian Digital Health Agency said “Sydneysiders facing COVID-19 social distancing requirements are reminded they can ask their GP for an electronic prescription when getting their prescription medicines.

“More than 12 million electronic prescriptions have already been issued, as healthcare providers and patients see the benefits of going digital,” she said.

“Electronic prescriptions are providing safer, faster and more efficient supply of prescriptions to Australians – in person via their doctor or via a telehealth consultation – sent straight to their mobile phone or by email.”

“Options for patients to forward their electronic prescription to their local pharmacy or use consumer medication management apps mean electronic prescriptions are especially convenient under COVID-19 lockdown. Some pharmacies can even home deliver medicines to support patients in staying at home.”

“More than 22,000 prescribers are now issuing electronic prescriptions to patients and at least 98% of all community pharmacies around the country are dispensing them.”

Dr Charlotte Hespe, a general practitioner with a practice in inner-city Sydney, said the transition to electronic prescriptions is straightforward for GPs.

“Most practice management software now has the capability to issue electronic prescriptions. If it is a patient’s choice to receive an electronic prescription instead of a paper prescription, then the GP just needs to select the electronic script option instead of ‘print’ when issuing a prescription,” said Dr Hespe.

While there are many benefits of electronic prescriptions, it is not mandatory. Patients and prescribers will continue to be able to choose a paper prescription if that is their preference.

Clinical software providers and consumer medication management apps continue to enhance their products to provide future options and further convenience when using electronic prescriptions for medicine supply.

Here is the link:

https://www.miragenews.com/electronic-prescriptions-making-telehealth-595966/

There is also a slightly different perspective here:

Over 12M e-prescriptions issued in Australia, says ADHA

Adam Ang | 16 Jul 2021

While the federal government is not mandating clinicians across Australia to issue electronic prescriptions, its issuance has gone above 12 million, according to the Australian Digital Health Agency.

WHY IT MATTERS

As Australian patients have the option to forward their e-prescriptions to local pharmacies or use consumer medication management apps, e-prescriptions proved to be "especially convenient under [the] COVID-19 lockdown", ADHA CEO Amanda Cattermole said in a media release.

E-prescriptions, she said, provide a "safer, faster and more efficient supply of prescriptions to Australians".

Cattermole noted that over 22,000 prescribers in the country are sending out e-prescriptions to patients and at least 98% of all community pharmacies are dispensing them.

THE LARGER CONTEXT

In its statement, the ADHA reminded citizens of Sydney that they can ask for digital prescriptions from their doctors while the city is undergoing an extended lockdown from mid-June to end-July. The new COVID-19 outbreak in the state of New South Wales that has seen 900 people infected was attributed to the entry of the Delta variant that was first identified in India.

The issuance of e-prescriptions in the country began in May last year. Within six months, more than 6.5 million e-prescriptions were made with 4.2 million dispensed.

More here:

https://www.healthcareit.com.au/article/over-12m-e-prescriptions-issued-australia-says-adha

So from the start in May until now we have call it 12 million eScripts issued.

In the first six months we saw about six million and it looks like about another six million in the next six-seven months.

Unless my math is dead wrong I can see no acceleration in adoption and use of eScript with an annual run rate of say 10 million to 11 million per year compared with 300 million paper scripts!

We are no where near 50% (closer to 5%) where we can declare victory!

I guess we just wait patiently, and wonder why the ADHA can’t be rather more honest! I can’t see anything like exponential growth here – as opposed, sadly, to COVID19!

David.