PHARMACISTS and doctors in the ACT are being urged to sign up to a new online prescription monitoring website which has formally debuted in the Territory.
Dubbed DORA, the new platform is an "online clinical tool which will help to reduce the harm that can be caused by people misusing pharmaceuticals," said ACT Minister for Health, Meegan Fitzharris.
She said for the first time in the ACT eligible prescribers and pharmacists would have access to "vital information" to assist in making better and safer clinical decisions for their patients, before a prescription is written or dispensed.
"ACT health professionals with access to DORA will be able to view all controlled medicines that have been dispensed to their patient in the ACT," Fitzharris said.
She said the system would help identify unusual patterns of use by a patient, highlighting potential misuse of controlled medicines.
"DORA has put the ACT on the front foot for adopting national real-time prescription monitoring in the future, as the Federal Government plans to implement its national monitoring system from this year," Fitzharris added.
She said DORA - standing for DAPIS Online Remote Access - was an extension of the ACT's existing Drugs And Poisons Information System (DAPIS), which is the regulatory business system used by ACT Health to monitor prescribing and supply of controlled medicines.
The ACT launch of DORA coincides with the state-wide extension of the $29.5 million SafeScript system in Vic (see page two).
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