South Western Sydney PHN is a not-for-profit health organisation dedicated to improving access to quality local healthcare for the whole community. We support GPs, practice nurses and other primary health providers to deliver the best possible care.

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ePrescriptions

Electronic prescriptions (ePrescriptions/ePrescribing) is being rolled out across Australia and are currently available by providing a ‘token’ for patients to receive access to their electronic prescription.

Below are some FAQs and information on how to become ePrescription ready:

What is “ePrescription” referring to?

  • Prescriptions can now be given to patients via a QR code Token sent to their phone. The paper hard copy is no longer mandatory.
  • If chosen, the patient receives an SMS or email with a QR code that is used at the pharmacy to dispense their medication.
  • If the prescription has repeats, then a new token is provided to the patient via SMS or email by the pharmacy.
  • Over 65% of Pharmacies in South Western Sydney are ready to dispense ePrescriptions.

What is the difference between Electronic Prescribing (ePrescription) and Electronic Transfer of Prescription (eTP)?

  • ePrescription refers to an electronic form of a prescription i.e. Token/QR code.
  • eTP refers to the way the prescription information is transmitted using a Prescription Delivery Service (PDS) i.e. Medisecure or eRx.
  • eTP allows for the prescription information to be automatically uploaded to MyHR and also accessed by pharmacies.

Why is ePrescription an option now?

  • The Australian Government has accelerated the delivery of electronic prescriptions to help protect people most at-risk in our community from exposure to COVID-19 and other infectious diseases.
  • The practice will not be required to send follow up hard copy of scripts to the pharmacy. Note: you may still send prescriptions as a Token, even if your consultation is NOT a telehealth consult.

How can my practice become ePrescription ready?

Note: If your practice is meeting all the ePIP requirements for My Health Record, only step 3 is required.

ePescription Readiness Steps

Support Services Contact Details
  1. The practice has a Healthcare Provider Identifier – Organisation (HPI-O) and is connected to the Healthcare Identifiers Service (HI Service)

Services Australia 1300 361 457 
  1. Connect to a Prescription Deliver Service (PDS); eRx Script Exchange or MediSecure and ensure that each GP is connected

If your GPs print scripts with an active barcode, this is an indication that your GPs are connected

eRx: 1300 700 921

Medisecure: 1800 47 27 47
  1. Activate/configure your practice’s clinical software

 

Clinical software vendors:

 

eLearning Courses

Enrol now in Electronic Prescriptions CPD Accredited free eLearning courses for prescribers providing an introduction to electronic prescriptions, with a focus on the implementation of the token model.

Click here to enrol.

For more information about ePrescriptions, click here.

Alternatively, please contact digitalhealth@swsphn.com.au and request a call back from our helpful Digital Health team.