FRED IT Group offshoot eRx Script Exchange has lodged an application with the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) to extend the existing authorisation which allows it to cooperate with rival IP MDS Pty Ltd, formerly known as MediSecure.
The groups both operate Prescription Exchange Systems (PESs), and the agreement sees them share equally in the fee which is charged to a pharmacy user and the government by the system to which a pharmacy is connected.
With the Commonwealth's PES Interoperability Project, electronic prescriptions can be accessed by all pharmacies, regardless of the PES origin of the electronic prescription.
The Commercial Interchange Agreement has been in place since 2012, with the existing ACCC authorisation set to expire 30 Jun.
eRx and IPS are seeking an extension of the existing authorisation until funding under the Sixth Community Pharmacy Agreement (6CPA) ends in 2020.
The application highlights the benefits of supporting the uptake and use of electronic prescriptions, which reduce transcription errors, improve healthcare and offer "general efficiency benefits for both prescribers and dispensers".
The Electronic Prescription Fee (EPF) is payable under the 6CPA and allowing eRx and IPS to share it equally eliminates any incentive to "hinder interoperablity".
The 6CPA provides funding of $12.7m per year to fund payments to pharmacists of 15 cents per eligible electronic prescription.
Presently approximately 75% of doctors and more than 90% of pharmacies use a PES, with hopes to increase that number, eRx said.
Ongoing interoperability of PESs "will yield benefits in healthcare services and better use of medicine," the application promises.
The Pharmacy Guild and Telstra Health each own 50% of Fred IT .
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