Overview

Create and deliver new solutions for emerging electronic prescription technology that will enable the prescribing, dispensing and claiming of medicines, without the need for a paper prescription.

 

 

What's an eScript?

An electronic prescription (eScript) is a digital version of a patient’s paper prescription. During a consultation with a general practitioner (GP), the patient can request an eScript instead of a paper script for their medications.

While paper prescriptions are still available, prescribers and patients can choose an electronic prescription to be issued instead. Electronic prescribing aims to provide convenience and choice to patients while improving PBS efficiency, compliance and drug safety.

The eScript is generated by the ‘Medication Knowledge’ database and an eScript ‘token URL’ is sent to the patient as either an SMS or as an email.

 

 

Challenges

With the arrival of new technologies that accommodate eScripts, we needed to develop a quick solution for our own patient facing app myPharmacyLink. It would need to render, store and deliver essential medication information from the ‘Medication Knowledge’ database to the patient’s chosen pharmacist for dispensing.

When the patient is ready to get their medications dispensed, the patient opens up the URL provided, allows the pharmacist to scan the QR code and collects their medication when it has been dispensed.

The same experience would need to be mirrored within each of our branded versions of the myPharmacyLink app (eg. Priceline Pharmacy App).

 

 

Conclusion

"More than 69 million electronic prescriptions have been issued since May 2020, by more than 44,000 prescribers - GPs and nurse practitioners." - Australian Digital Health Agency, July 2022

With the passing of the ADHA conformance process and the release of eScript functionality in myPharmacyLink, our entire patient network was readily able to acquire, access and open eScript tokens in their myPharmacyLink application.

Based on the research we conducted, the patients also expressed positive sentiments in using our eScript solutions, as it provided a seamless experience from receiving the token to collecting the dispensed medication at their chosen pharmacy.