The Government is expanding the e-Prescription Service to
make it easier for people to get the medicines they need,
Health Minister Andrew Little has
announced.
“Sending prescriptions electronically
makes sense because it can be faster, safer, cheaper and
more convenient, but until recently, it was hardly ever
done,” Andrew Little told the Digital Health Association
at an event in Parliament today.
“The COVID-19
pandemic changed that, with the number of GP practices using
the official Government e-Prescription Service jumping from
415 in March 2020 to 1038 in March this year. The number of
eScripts issued went from 624,300 to 1,559,427.
“But
it’s still a bit tricky, and can’t be used for the
prescription of any controlled drugs such as morphine, which
is why today I am pleased to announce we are expanding the
e-Prescription Service.
“No longer will
prescriptions for controlled drugs have to be in hard copy,
with a physical signature. We will, finally, be able to say
goodbye to fax machines.
“And for medicines for some
chronic conditions like ADHD, prescribers will be able to
increase the period of time covered by a single
ePrescription, reducing the number of times patients need to
visit a GP for repeat prescriptions.
“It will also
cut reduce administration costs for medical practices, which
will no longer have to print, send and store hard-copy
prescriptions.
“Digital innovation is central to
unlocking the full potential of our reformed health system.
Health technologies are changing all the time. We need to
think about how we can use them to work smarter to help all
New Zealanders get the healthcare they need,” Andrew
Little said.
The New Zealand e-Prescription Service is
an electronic health information exchange broker operated by
the Ministry of Health. Doctors and other prescribers send
prescriptions to the service through a secure channel, and
they are then sent on to pharmacies to be
dispensed.
Electronic medicines management systems
have been shown to significantly reduce the number of
patients harmed by medication errors and adverse drug events
by:
- Eliminating illegible, ambiguous or
incomplete prescriptions. - Providing a single and
comprehensive view of a patient’s current and historical
drug record. - Providing real-time decision support to
guide and improve the appropriateness and accuracy of
prescribing. - Improving communication of real-time
information between prescribers, pharmacy and
nursing.
The changes are expected to be in place
by the end of the year, and will be especially helpful for
people who find visiting a doctor to get a prescription
difficult because they live a long way away or they can’t
afford
it.
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