NZ’s Simpl builds Australian e-prescription system
GPs and medical specialists in Australia are now using e-scripts on the first Australia-wide platform for electronic prescriptions, thanks to a partnership between Australian pharmacy IT specialist, Fred Health, New Zealand-based Simpl, and Microsoft.
Simpl, a lead Microsoft partner for healthcare worldwide, was selected by Fred Health in September 2008 to build the industry-led initiative, dubbed eRx Script Exchange (eRx), using Microsoft's Health Connection Engine technology.
Six months later, eRx is up and running with GPs and medical specialists sending prescriptions to eRx, for later retrieval at the patient's pharmacy of choice.
eRx Script Exchange chair Graham Cunningham expects at least 1000 general practices and pharmacies will be connected by the year-end to send and retrieve prescriptions electronically.
According to Graham, "Electronic prescribing is one of the fundamentals in improving medication accuracy and efficiency, leading to better patient care and safety. Importantly, for pharmacists, efficient accurate dispensing means that they can spend more time with their patients. Our priority is to make e-scripts available to a high proportion of pharmacists, GPs and specialists around Australia as soon as possible.
The Pharmacy Guild of Australia, which represents the majority of Australia's community pharmacy owners, has endorsed the system and pre-purchased 10.6 million eRx transactions for its members.
National Guild President Mr Kos Sclavos stated, "A platform for e-scripts is a vital piece of health infrastructure, creating immediate safety benefits for patients, as well as a better standard of shared care between GPs and pharmacists. It paves the way for further improvements to delivery of care through facilitation of individual electronic health records, based on individual consent."
Paul Naismith, CEO of Fred Health, says the eRx gateway will ensure there is an open platform available to all doctors and pharmacies via their chosen software provider.
"Electronic prescribing is such a vital step in providing the best care for patients, through improved accuracy and efficiency of prescribing. Our partnership with Simpl and Microsoft brings invaluable international expertise and backing in building a national electronic prescribing platform that is genuinely secure and protects patient privacy and choice."
Fred Health is committed to ensuring that there is an open national platform available to all doctors and pharmacies whatever software they use.
Fred Health first became interested in Simpl's health connectivity capabilities after seeing the company present at a 2007 Microsoft Partner Conference in Australia.
"Simpl demonstrated the ability to connect health systems together across vendors and health providers that used open standards technology in a way that put the patient at the centre of health services," says Fred Health CEO Paul Naismith.
Simpl CEO Bennett Medary says the eRx project is an excellent example of the health sector taking the lead in a health connectivity initiative where the desire to improve patient outcomes is top priority.
"Health connectivity should be all about the patient; finding ways to improve their relationships with the health community so that they can live longer, healthier lives," says Mr Medary.
"We are committed to using our connectivity expertise and global partnership with Microsoft anywhere in the world where we can improve patient-health relationships and help people take stronger management of their health future."
Visit www.erx.com.au for more details and to be kept up to date with this exciting initiative.
